The Conference Conundrum
Anyone thinking of attending a tech conference is seeing the same issues—skyrocketing ticket prices, iffy presenters who are all covering the same few topics, and massive lists of sponsors you don’t want in your email feed.
As an enthusiastic conference goer who has been to some great ones (and some outright terrible), here’s what I’ve learned about finding the right events and getting the most out of them.
Why attend conferences?
If you just want to skip out on work and listen to some fancy tech topics, my advice isn’t for you. If I wanted to hear a CTO give the same spiel already drilled into their sales team, I’d email their sales team.
Experiencing expertise
First and foremost, I attend conferences to hear and discuss problems at the cutting edge of my field. I benefit from the diversity of other attendees—people who might ask questions or challenge the presenters in ways that wouldn’t have come to me.
The presenter may or may not be an expert in their field, but if I’m at the right event, I can trust that the audience around me is full of knowledgable, experienced experts who are here to learn together.
Caveat: Charismatic presenters are really good at persuasively delivering their ideas. They might present unverified claims that fit a narrative they want to sell, perhaps convincingly enough to impress a lasting groupthink on the audience—the presenter sounded smart, only supportive questions came up, and you walk away wondering how to apply the session to your own work.
There’s no secret sauce here—you need to gauge your own capability to learn versus be swayed.
Networking (not job hunting)
The most commonly touted perk of conference attendance, a chance to chat with industry peers and maybe meet a new boss… except the latter probably won’t pan out. Not to say you won’t get lucky if that’s your goal, but don’t go in expecting anyone to hand out interviews on the spot.
Conference networking is part of a long game of building trust and familiarity. The tech lead you meet today might be a founder tomorrow. The director at the afternoon mixer might still be waiting on budget approval to grow their team. That being said, networking isn’t only about the future opportunities—read below about setting up 1:1s to make the effort conference attendance worth your time.
Pick the conference that’s right for you
There are a lot of events to choose from, and no option is right for everyone. Picking the wrong one can be a costly mistake.
Find your community
Who are you at work? Who do you want to be? Answer those questions and find your people. Plenty of conferences thrive on targeting niche personas, which makes finding them as easy as Googling “conference for [your persona].”
Your persona might include your heritage, your career path, or your gender identity. Whether you think of yourself as a female tech leader or a Canadian iOS developer, I’m sure you’ll find a conference that caters to your interests. This doesn’t necessarily mean the event will be a good one, but it’s a start.
For any conference you come across, try to get a sense of its priorities. Do they verify attendees? Are the organizers active online? Are the major sponsors relevant to the stated purpose of the event? You shouldn’t need to dig too much—in my experience, the best conferences answer to these concerns right on their website.
Make it worth your time
You’ve done it—you found a great event, bought tickets, and cleared the days with your boss. All that’s left is to show up, right?
Wrong.
The real work starts just before the event, when the sessions and attendees are finalized. Don’t just show up hoping to be ferried around—it’s your job to build your own schedule.
Pick the right sessions
There are typically multiple concurrent sessions of different types occurring at any given time, with short breaks between each batch. You’ll need to be strategic about your choices in order to have a fulfilling day.
Maintain a discerning eye when looking through the presenters, and when listening to them. If they are to speak to an issue and happen to work on a product that is meant to solve said issue, expect them to maneuver into a sales pitch or demo along the way. In any case, there may still be a lot to learn from their expertise before the switch.
I often prioritize collaborative workshops over attending talks (after all, more often than not I can request a recording of the talk later). Most workshops require advance registration—sometimes online before the event, sometimes day of when you enter the venue. Ideal workshops group you with peers, i.e. ICs with ICs, managers with managers, c-suite with c-suite, to tackle specific concerns of relevant to your level.
Set up 1:1s
Perhaps the biggest miss for many conference goers is failing to set up 1:1s. You bought a ticket, set aside time from work, maybe even traveled, all to be in a room with these people. It’s time to talk to them!
When setting up my between-session 1:1s and lunch dates, I’m picking people in two categories:
Direct peers, often sharing my job title, who face similar challenges in their day-to-day.
One or two rungs up the ladder, sitting in the roles I want to reach.
By connecting with my peers, I’m building a support system worth leveraging (through DMs, coffee chats, or future events) to help me tackle ongoing challenges in my work. And in also looking up the ladder, I get a glimpse of what I’m missing and how to grow.
Finally, don’t be afraid to go looking for the presenters after their session is done. Most will hang around in the venue, and I can almost guarantee they’ll be ecstatic to continue discussing their topic in person or later over LinkedIn.
Whether you’re new to tech or a seasoned veteran looking to grow, I hope my experiences and ideas can help. Don’t hesitate to message me on LinkedIn with feedback and questions.
