Author: Christian Heilmann
Translator: Zhuang Qi
Conferences and travel are stressful, there’s no denying that. They can also be frustrating. But for evangelists, this is work, and as a great evangelist, you should take it seriously. Every single one. If you can’t take an event seriously, then don’t speak there. As with all things evangelism, the success of your conference depends on your level of excitement.
You should prepare your talk and research the audience. You should see what other speakers are doing and talking about to avoid overlap. This is why it’s frustrating when others treat conferences as “time outside the office.” And it gets worse when organizational issues mean you end up in a nearly empty room. Try to avoid this. Be as excited about the event as the organizers and attendees are that you’re there. Every great evangelist should always keep the following fact in mind.
Fact: If you’re invited to speak at a conference, you should attend the conference. People pay money to see you, and organizers rely on you to entertain, inform, and educate. If you’re not present at the event, you’re cheating the organizers and attendees. You’re not a rock star who can sing one song and leave under the protection of bodyguards. You need the organizers and attendees to do your job. This starts with planning your event itinerary the right way.
Stay in contact with the conference organizers and ask the right questions in advance so you can arrive independently at the venue, at the right time and in the right place. Offer to be flexible, but make sure you don’t need someone to hold your hand. Give yourself enough time to be present when the conference needs you. There’s nothing more stressful for an organizer than not being able to find a speaker.
Arranging Travel and Accommodation
I could write a whole book on this, given how much I’ve traveled and how many conferences I’ve attended. Every conference is different. But here are some key points that are important and have helped me stay productive and healthy during all my time on the road.
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Book at least one buffer day before and after the event：You can’t perform well when you’re jet-lagged. Get a good night’s sleep beforehand. Conferences often start early, and you should be alert and energized. You have a full day ahead of you — if not two days if the conference is longer.
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Stay close to the venue：While you might save money by staying elsewhere, it means extra commute time. Additionally, commuting can be confusing since you probably don’t know the city. My favorite conferences are those held in hotels where you can book a room. This means you can go to the event with minimal gear — just your laptop bag and some cables. Nothing is more annoying for you as a speaker than having to carry multiple layers of clothing and luggage around.
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Travel affordably：This might sound controversial, but I flat-out refuse to use budget airlines. The same goes for trips with frequent changes of transport. Flying is stressful, and the recycled air isn’t good for you. Everyone at the airport is a potential obstacle that could prevent you from arriving on time. Ask for good mid-range tickets and get to know your airlines and airports. Make sure you’re enrolled in a frequent flyer program. The more you prepay in these areas, the cheaper the tickets get, as you can upgrade yourself with air miles.
Tip：Conference organizers are the best people to ask about the event. They’ll know the best ways to get around and have booked suitable accommodations for other speakers and their staff. Ask them about these things rather than guessing for yourself.
Who Pays the Bill
This can be a contentious topic, and I’ve had quite heated debates with both companies and conference organizers. It’s also an important topic. For me, conferences are like concerts: no band, no concert. This means organizers should treat you well, and you should treat them well. No one likes a diva, no matter how good you are. And no one likes a cheapskate.
If a conference budget doesn’t include at least funding for speakers’ accommodation and travel, it’s a bad budget. Your participation in an event means you’re giving time, dedication, and effort. This should be recognized and paid for. If you’re traveling at your own expense, you’re essentially paying to speak. This might be necessary at the beginning, or if the conference is a huge opportunity for you. In the long run, it’s neither professional nor sustainable.
If you’re an evangelist, you’re likely working for a company that can cover part of your attendance costs. This can also be part of a sponsorship package — we pay for the speaker and get coverage. But for you as an evangelist, there are some dangers here.
Essentially, you need to be yourself on stage. You don’t want to be a corporate shill who has to be a certain way because of someone. This means you should be somewhat independent of both your company and the conference organizers. Neither should tell you what to speak about, but should trust your professionalism to do the right thing. If this isn’t possible, you need to work on this first. This is a two-way trust. Many companies will want to pay for your presence so that organizers can’t tell you what to do. This is nonsense because it means your company wants to be in that position.
There are many pitfalls in this area, but one thing should be high on your list. Avoid any sponsored speaking opportunities.
These are not for evangelists. These are for salespeople. And no one wants them. Audiences get bored when something is obviously an advertisement. Speakers know that people expect them to give them the shiny bits in these talks. Listening to sponsored talks is sleep-inducing. They’re a relic of a bygone era, existing only because they’re convenient.
At best, try to aim for the following.
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Have the conference organizers cover your travel and accommodation：After all, they want you there most.
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Repay them by representing your company and submitting a report after the event：How was your talk received? What did competitors do? Which contacts do you need to follow up with? Did you meet a potential employee?
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Split the difference：Your company can pay for extra hotel days and your travel costs. This keeps the conference organizers’ costs lower.
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Have a clear separation between your attendance and any form of sponsorship：You shouldn’t be something to be bartered with. You should choose the events you attend, not be forced to go because a speaking slot is part of a package. This is insulting to everyone and doesn’t help you or your company.
This will be something you have to define and fight for strictly. Paying to speak at a conference is reputation suicide for a speaker. Don’t try to participate in such talks. Protect your reputation as an independent technical person, not a marketer.
Another thing to keep in mind is that many people attend conferences for a living. For them, not getting paid to be there means a loss. Don’t be the one who undercuts and makes enemies this way.
Get Involved
It’s very tempting to go deliver your talk and then go see friends or go sightseeing or shopping with other speakers. This is also disrespectful to the attendees and organizers. Plan these activities around the conference, not during it. Many great conference organizers have these things for you. There’s usually a speaker dinner before the event and some organized city trips after. If you encounter such conference organizers, thank them. These are good organizers.
Try to attend the conference and participate. See other speakers and what they’re doing. Talk to people at booths — you know how boring that job can be. The more you absorb before your talk, the more you can bring afterward. How cool is it to remind the audience of something you heard in another talk at the same event? How happy do sponsors get when you mention something they showed at their booth? Remember, the money the organizers paid to bring you here came from sponsors. Give something back in kind.
Socialize the Event
You’re likely already a voice on social networks, or at least working on becoming one. Conferences are a great way to get a boost and get more people following you. It’s simple:
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Display your social media contact information on your slides：Use them to introduce yourself. It’s amazing how many more followers you can get this way, both from people at the conference and those reading the slides online. I even put it in the footer of every slide. People tend to screenshot them.
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Report your presence at the conference：Use the conference hashtag to tell people when and where your talk is. Let people know where you’ll be during breaks in case people want to talk to you.
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Point out interesting things and good talks by others：This is an investment in the future. If you share your appreciation of other people’s work, they might share theirs.
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Retweet the conference organizers’ latest information：They’ll appreciate it, and it costs you nothing.
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Put your materials online and tell people：Your slides/demos/videos/new product releases with the conference hashtag attached will be found and used by many more people. It can also be a “try before you buy” for conference attendees.
Network at the Event
Coming back from an event with a stack of business cards can be daunting. Especially in today’s world where we all have smartphones that allow us to connect immediately. Still, don’t be a “take and forget” person. If you get a contact, follow up with an email. Many times, nothing happens afterward, but at least you have the details in your email client for future needs. I’ve started taking photos of business cards and saving the photos instead of the cards themselves. I shred the cards — it’s impolite to throw away someone’s personal information, like emails and phone numbers.
Networking at events can be fun. I’ve found it’s also very rewarding to sometimes not mingle with the loud crowd at post-parties and networking events, but to stay a little outside. That’s how people who are afraid of loud crowds find you, and the contacts and conversations I’ve had this way are much more interesting. Especially when I’m completely sober — it automatically isolates me from the loud crowd.
Track Event Participation
Once you become famous, you’ll have many demands on your time, and this can become a full-time job. Make it easy by building a good calendar to track your events. After each conference you attend, create a report for your colleagues and the conference organizers. This makes it easy to decide if it’s worth your while to attend the same event next time or pass it on to someone else. It also gives the organizers something to think about and gives you a chance to say “thank you.” This will go a long way.
Handle Hot Topics at Conferences
Speaking at conferences is a great thing, especially with the many opportunities to interact with other speakers and learn about their work. For example, many of my misconceptions about Microsoft technology became much clearer after meeting people from the IE8 team several times that year.
Conferences also generate a lot of online buzz and are a great channel to get your message out to many, many people. This depends somewhat on the size of the conference. Smaller conferences have less buzz, but larger ones have so much buzz that your contribution will be lost among tweets where people introduce themselves and signal their presence.
The trick is once again to approach things from a different angle. In addition to following the normal conference marketing procedures, try to find that extra “What’s in it for me?”
Be Part of the Conference You’re Talking About
Organizing a conference is a pretty tough job, so one good thing to do is to support the conference where you’re speaking. Promote it on Twitter, tell people you’ll be there, and maybe organize a small informal breakfast or dinner gathering a few days before or after the conference.
The main benefit of attending a conference — whether as a speaker or an attendee — is rubbing shoulders with others during breaks, before and after the event, exchanging ideas, thoughts, and information. Don’t just show up for your talk and leave, you’ll miss most of the fun.
Publish Immediately
During and in the days following a conference, the web is flooded with tweets, blogs, photos, links, and all other types of good stuff with the conference hashtag. Conference organizers also live-stream social media updates on big screens and collect web content with the appropriate hashtag to list on the conference website.
This is a great opportunity to get your stuff out as far and as fast as possible. Have your slides ready online with the correct hashtags and put them online immediately after your talk. Use the hashtags on Twitter and add the conference hashtag to links on your website, and you’ll be part of the first wave of information.
The same goes for your photos. Upload them, tag them appropriately, and people will find them because everyone is checking conference photos. Make sure to label the names of people in the photos to make searching easier (after you’ve gotten permission).
Post-Conference Summary
Another great way to give back to the conference is to cover it in your communication channels. Write a blog post about the conference, and maybe an introductory piece about the conference and the things you enjoyed. I also provide personal feedback to organizers via email after every conference and have received many thanks for this.
Reprinted with permission: Developer Relations »
