Educational conferences and expos are wonderful for gaining insights and gathering new materials. But they can be exhausting! Trying to decide what speakers to see, running around the displays, fitting in a little nourishment between activities … it can all be daunting. Here are a few tips to make your next conference experience a mellower one.
- Save your back. If you know that you will want to pick up materials, bring along a rolling attaché or bag of some type. Alternatively, check out what the exhibitors have to offer but, instead of grabbing samples, sign up for materials to be mailed to you later.
- Carry self-addressed labels. Avoid hand cramps, memory loss, and missing the next speaker as you try to sign up for all the goodies that exhibitors offer. Take a sheet of small labels to each conference, containing your name, title, and school address. Many sign-up sheets ask for an email address too, so consider including that.
- Divide and conquer. If you attend a conference with colleagues, agree to divide up the interesting presentations. You can also divvy up visiting exhibits, if there are many of them. Then, you can meet to trade notes and materials. If you alone represent your school or district, find someone at the conference who is in the same boat, and divide tasks between you.
- Smell the roses. Schedule some down time—like a short nap after a full day and before an evening out—and plan for a little fun. Especially if a conference is in an interesting location, make it a point to see more than just the hotel. This will help make the entire experience more memorable. If an excursion is not part of the conference itself, take an evening or even a half-day to explore. The “divide and conquer” advice above will help you make sure you do not miss anything!
- Nosh when you can. Even if you’re not hungry when the break snacks come out, nibble on something. You never know what might happen—I have seen scheduling errors or miscounts deprive people of their lunches or dinners at keynote events.
Of course, there are other smart tips that most people know—wear comfy shoes, dress in layers because you never know what how the rooms are heated or cooled, and so on—but these should get you started. If you have other tips gleaned from experience, please reply to this post and share them!
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Zuzana Urbanek, English Language Arts Coordinator at American Book Company.
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