A guide to getting the most out of any conference

I’ve spoken at conferences. I’ve volunteered at conferences. I’ve been even known to attend a few conferences.

As you get ready for Y’all Connect Presented by Alabama Power, let me share a few tips to help you get the most of our event and others.

1. Bring business cards. Don’t hang your head in shame when I (or one of hundreds of guests) ask you for a card and you have none. Make it the first thing you pack.

If you don’t have any, a local print shop can produce a batch of 100 or 200 within hours. Or you can print or copy your own with custom business card paper. Or you can hand out slips of paper (I’ve handed them out, as well as postcards, business cards and pins).

Make sure to include your name, company name, URL, email address, phone number and Twitter name. Don’t make me hunt on your website just to find your contact info!

2. Wear comfortable shoes. You’ll be walking from session to session. You’ll be standing and networking for hours. Make your feet as happy as possible.

3. Hydrate. We’ll have beverages at breakfast, lunch, afternoon networking and closing party. The Harbert Center has water fountains. VIPs will have beverages all day long in the VIP lounge. Drink up, and stay hydrated.

4. Contact people before the conference. Time is very limited at an event, and if you want to meet specific guests (CEOs, speakers, entrepreneurs), you should get on their radar early. (Their schedule could fill quickly.) Scan the attendee list, and reach out to several people you want to meet.

You can meet them for coffee during the event, or you can set up a quick meal before or after. One-on-one time builds a relationship quickly. Don’t count on spotting someone at random during the day; it’s challenging to find a stranger in a sea of people moving everywhere.

5. It’s OK to sit out a session. I like learning, and I like getting my money’s worth, so I know the impulse well to sit in every seminar on the schedule. As an introvert, I sometimes need a break during the day to sit alone and collect my thoughts. I’ve also skipped sessions to network with others (a great time to do it because it’s quieter and people are more focused). Of course, you might use it to catch up on calls and emails or check in with the office.

And, don’t tell the speakers this, but it’s OK to leave a session before it’s done. (They’re pros — they know the drill.) I have done this many times (discreetly), even from the front row. After 15 minutes, you’ll know if a session is going to be fruitful for you. I have left sessions to join others already in progress and made some wonderful discoveries: Walking in on Ramon De Leon‘s talk at the halfway point gave me one of the best sessions at BlogWorld.

Vote with your feet.

We hope you love your time at the conference, meet our speakers and our guests and make lasting connections.

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For those coming from out of town, we have more tips on what to do here in our travel guide, “36 hours in Birmingham.”

Get in the spirit by watching Ike Pigott’s opening keynote from 2013.