42 Tips for Going to a Technical Conference

Heading to DrupalCon, BADCamp, or Mirror Conf? Here are 42 quick tips for going to a technical conference.

Before You Go

1. Lay the groundwork in your mind by studying up in the areas that you’re going to focus on when you get to the conference.
2. Write out what you want to get out of the conference. It helps you justify to the team why they should send you and orders your mind. 
3. If you wear glasses, if possible, have a spare pair stashed in your bag.
4. If you take medication, in addition to having it on hand, take a picture of the labels. With the photos for reference you can replace them if they are lost.
5. Set up meets. Take the time to connect with people you deal with online most of the year. 

6. Figure out how you’re going to take notes. At the last conference, I was juggling between a laptop, netbook, notebook, and my phone. I found taking notes on my phone was most convenient.
7. Prepare your elevator pitch. Be able to tell people what you do, intelligently.
8. Review previous conferences.
9. Use that review to pick the presenters you wish to seek out and be aware of those you might want to skip.
10. Back up your computer and order your data. 
11. Have someone designated as your stand-in while you are gone. It is the best way to keep things functioning and you focused.
12. Set up access to your system and data for whoever is filling in for you (your “stand-in”).
13. Talk to your boss and find out what they are looking to have you get out of the experience. 
14. Make sure that your credit cards can handle expected road expenses... and for that matter, unexpected ones as well.
15. Have some cash on hand.
16. Prepare your phone. Back it up in case you lose it. Have it loaded with any apps you may need (Uber, voice record, Evernote…). Be sure you have set up remote access to work resources. Have an external battery (or portable charger) with you. Take pictures of travel details. Use a passcode/lock it.

17. Take pictures of the contents of your wallet and secure them. If it gets stolen, it helps you know what you need to replace and cancel.
18.  A cheap netbook can be bought for just over a hundred bucks. It may make sense to buy and build out a cheap system just for conferences. Then you don’t have to put your work laptop at risk.
19. Explore the area. If you have the time, try to pad a day or two at one end of the conference so you can get some of the local flavor.
20. Set up notifications so people know you are out of the office.

While You're There

21. Open your mind.
22. Enjoy yourself.
23. Go Deep. Find the experts in your areas of knowledge and see how much you can get out of them.
24. Expand your knowledge. I try to take at least a couple sessions that are out of my areas of expertise and after a little study to know the terms and have a general sense of things, I try to let that session be my doorway into something new.
25. Take pictures. Best way to capture the contents of a busy slide is to take a quick picture with your phone. Many speakers will post their slides online after a presentation as well. But this gives you quick access for note taking/recollection.
26. Do take notes. You will be feeding your mind a lot in a short period of time. Even a few triggers will serve you.
27. Be careful what you eat and drink.
28. Keep a “to do” list as commitments come up at the conference. It can be easy to accidentally double book or overcommit yourself.
29. Write down two immediate action items after each session. I am stealing this tip from Susan Rust. Most good sessions will give you at least one or two ideas to implement.
30. Get to popular sessions early. 

31. Take a moment as you settle down for your session to set in your mind where you are going when it ends.
32. Come up with at least one good question for the presenter. Get your money’s worth and see if you can get them to connect with something you need for your environment.
33. Set up note trading. If there are two sessions at the same time, try to get someone that you can split the attendance with and get together with them soon after the session to trade information.
34. Be nice. Make a conscious effort to improve the experiences of people around you, it will do wonders to improve your experience. 
35. Carefully check in at work. Don't get pulled into the day to day challenges, but make sure that they have everything they need to get by without you.
36. Meditate. Take time to just rest your mind. Even something as simple as listening to music in a quiet corner can be enough to refresh you.

After You Get Back

37. Go back and fill in the blanks. Watch sessions you missed online. Rewatch ones you caught and liked, especially if you feel you missed anything.
38. Set up time to brainstorm. Let your experience feed you. Before going back to your regular job, stop; think about what changes would serve your business. 
39. Write something when you get back. Take your new views of the community and use them to write an article, blog post, or an email to coworkers about what you learned, or what was missed. 
40. Make a conscious, constructive effort to inform your co-workers about useful information that you derived from the conference.
41. Plan your career. After experiencing the larger world of people in your profession, think about where you’ve been focusing. The best time to correct your path is when you are on a rise and can see more of the surrounding landscape.
42. Enjoy yourself. (So important I listed it twice!)