The Conference Hack: Skip Sessions, Meet People
46sChallenges the common belief that conference sessions are the main value, offering a contrarian networking strategy.
▶ Play ClipAI Summary
The video follows the creator at the Traffic and Conversion Conference in San Diego, sharing practical strategies for maximizing conference value. The core message is that the real value lies in meeting people, not attending sessions, and the creator outlines a systematic approach to networking.
Chapters
[00:00]
Conference Value is in People, Not Sessions
The creator emphasizes that the best part of a conference is the people you meet, not the sessions. He advises creating a checklist of specific people you want to talk to and working through it.
[02:09]
Research Attendees and Speakers in Advance
Before the conference, look up the attendee list or, if unavailable, the list of speakers. Identify specific people you want to meet and list them out in advance.
[02:45]
Reach Out Before the Conference
Contact the people on your list before the conference. Mention something you admire about their work, note that you'll both be at the conference, and express a desire to meet. This creates touch points so they may remember you.
[03:11]
Use High-Traffic Areas for Serendipity
Pay attention to common walking areas, like long hallways. Walk in the reverse direction of the crowd during breaks to spot people you recognize or interesting groups to join.
[04:04]
Host Dinners to Curate Connections
Instead of asking to 'pick someone's brain' over coffee, host a dinner and invite speakers and other interesting people. Curate a good group, but avoid excessive name-dropping.
[04:44]
The Biggest Hack: Build Your Platform Early
The most effective conference strategy is the work done a year or two prior: building an online platform and audience. This makes people want to approach you at the conference.
The ultimate takeaway is that conference success is largely determined by preparation and long-term audience building, not just in-the-moment tactics.
Mentioned in this Video
Tutorial Checklist
Study Flashcards (5)
What is the best thing about a conference according to the creator?
easy
Click to reveal answer
What is the best thing about a conference according to the creator?
easy
Click to reveal answer
The people you can meet, not the sessions.
00:26
What should you do if a conference doesn't list the attendee list?
easy
Click to reveal answer
What should you do if a conference doesn't list the attendee list?
easy
Click to reveal answer
Look at the list of speakers and identify specific ones you want to talk to.
02:22
What is the recommended way to approach someone before the conference?
medium
Click to reveal answer
What is the recommended way to approach someone before the conference?
medium
Click to reveal answer
Reach out in advance, mention something you love about their work, and express a desire to meet at the conference.
02:45
What is the 'biggest conference hack ever'?
medium
Click to reveal answer
What is the 'biggest conference hack ever'?
medium
Click to reveal answer
Building up your online platform and audience a year or two prior to the conference.
04:44
Why is hosting a dinner more effective than asking to 'pick someone's brain'?
medium
Click to reveal answer
Why is hosting a dinner more effective than asking to 'pick someone's brain'?
medium
Click to reveal answer
It's a more generous and curated approach that makes it easier to find people interested in connecting.
04:04
💡 Key Takeaways
💡
People over sessions
Reframes the purpose of conferences, shifting focus from passive learning to active networking.
00:26
🔧
Pre-conference outreach
Emphasizes the importance of building touch points before the event to increase recall.
02:45
⚖️
Platform as the ultimate shortcut
Reveals that long-term audience building is more effective than any in-conference tactic.
04:44Full Transcript
[00:00] So I'm here in San Diego for the Traffic and Conversion Conference, one that I've never been to before. Because this year I'm trying to go to a different set of conferences. So I'm not going to a few of my usual ones, stuff like MicroConf, Bacon Biz.
[00:13] I am still going to go to WDS, that's the World Domination Summit, which is just a great conference. Mainly in this video, I want to talk about how to get the most out of a conference. The point is, get to a specific list of people who you want to meet at the conference.
[00:26] Because the best thing isn't the sessions, it's who you can meet. and I think of it like a checklist. Who do I actually want to talk to? And I go down that list until I meet everyone.
[00:46] Quiet morning at the Boise airport at 5.40 in the morning. Headed to San Diego this morning and just going to eat some breakfast and write some code before I go. One thing that's great about Boise is I can leave my house an hour before the flight leaves
[01:02] and it takes 12 minutes or so to get to the airport, four minutes for security, and then I have to walk like 10 gates It not bad There are only three people in the first class cabin
[01:24] Apparently it takes no frequent flyer status to get a seat in first class today. And no one invoices a frequent flyer. I have silver status with Delta and uh... yeah.
[01:44] All checked into the hotel and start to feel the impact of staying up late, getting up early and then traveling.
[02:09] But the first thing that I do before I get into town is I look up the attendee list beforehand. or as close to that as I can come. Okay, the next thing is a lot of conferences don't list the attendee list, but they will have all of the speakers.
[02:22] So if there are particular speakers that you want to see and that you want to have a chance to talk to, list those out. Like don't just, you know, you don't want to talk to every single speaker, but who specifically, list that out in advance. Another thing that you can do is you know sometimes there a Facebook group for the conference that you see people posting in or just check out the hashtags on Twitter or follow people who you think might be there ask around now that you have that
[02:45] list reach out to all of them in advance hey really love this thing that you did just wanted to mention I'm willing to be at X conference saw that you're going to be there would love to meet if you have time after you do that you know they
[02:57] might say yeah absolutely that'd be great to meet but most likely they'll just say okay you know which is like the friendly way of not committing to anything then what happens is you have a few of these touch points leading up to the conference and then when you do actually you know come up and talk to
[03:11] them after their talk they might actually remember you they might know who you are or that you know they might be looking for you okay the next thing is pay attention to the most common areas that people walk so for example I
[03:23] went to the social media marketing world conference and I noticed that the way they do it is this one long hallway in the San Diego Convention Center so everybody's walking this one direction actually the buildings a loop but I
[03:37] don't think anybody knew that during the breaks and when everyone's out there you can walk the reverse direction and just look for people you recognize or groups that might be interesting to join and then that way you can stop someone say
[03:49] say hi I ran into a lot of people who I had little connections with online but hadn actually you know had an in conversation with and finally and probably the most valuable thing is to host dinners So if you meeting with someone don just say like
[04:04] hey, I'd love to pick your brain over coffee or something like that. That's not gonna go over well. But what you can do is you can host a dinner and say, hey, I'm inviting these speakers,
[04:17] I'm inviting a few different people, et cetera. Though be careful what you do on the name dropping side of things. That can get annoying. but put together a good group. Curate a great group and that'll make it easier to find people
[04:29] who might be interested. Talk to people in advance. Once you start to meet people, it gets a lot easier. The other thing, the biggest conference hack ever isn't anything that happens at the conference. It's the work that happens a year,
[04:44] two years prior to the conference that you put into building up your online platform. Because the first conference that I attended after having a blog that was actually read by people was fantastic because people wanted to come up and talk to me.
[04:58] So that's the biggest shortcut, is the work you put into the audience up front and early on. I'm off to lunch with a few people because I texted some friends and they said, hey, join us at lunch. So I hope that helps.
