Updated 10/2018
You’ve just returned from a conference!
You plunked down cash with the hope of learning something new and meeting fabulous people. The glow of the ATD conference is fading as quickly as the sun on the Rockies. Now you don’t want to let all the inspiration and renewed passion sit in the bottom of your abused tote bag. Right? Of course not!
Here are 7 after-conference tips plus one worksheet.
Time work some follow-up magic! (Be sure to list your success tips in the comment section below)
- Create a conference action list. This is different from a task list or to-do list. Any person can write a to-do list – but you are taking this to the next level and generating ACTION from the conference. Pick that one idea out of the several you picked up and build on it! Download your Action Planner here. Which leads me to item…
- Schedule a brainstorming meeting. Let’s shake it up. You are going to forgo the boring, yawn-inducing debrief and go straight to the money maker! You are going to choose one idea that was simply brilliant and brainstorm it with the team! How is this one idea going to go from paper to implementation? No team? Brainstorm with your community! You just returned from a conference and should have gathered some new contacts – take advantage of these new connections and work out loud together. That being said, let’s move to…
- Talk to your new friends. You were there, tweeted, shared LinkedIn posts and all manner of other social activity. You probably picked up a new friend or two. Normal people may be happy that they grew their social profile – but you, my Rebel friend, will take it to a new level. Gather those new friends and create a community group just for them. Be a pied piper! Many social applications allow for private group building, so pick one! Slack, WhatsApp, Facebook, LinkedIn. No excuses. Take the lead. This prompts me to talk about…
- Send thank you notes. Rebels going old school! You collected business cards and contact information. Now do something with them. If you are a business owner or vendor, I don’t have to tell you this – but for the “I gotta a day job” Learning Rebel, what better way to tell people you enjoyed meeting them? Come on, it’ll give you something to do while watching late-night TV. Collecting business cards shouldn’t be about quantity. It’s QUALITY. Let the people with whom you exchanged information know that they were special enough to make your address list. Download: Email template here. Wow, this ties into…
- Email, tweet, LinkedIn message the presenters of your favorite sessions. They are people too, and they want to hear from you. If they mentioned a research paper and you want to have deeper conversation about it, you have their contact information. You don’t? You have the Google Machine. Put it to use. Believe me, they want to hear from you. Speaking of presenters…
- Find your story! Aggregate your notes. Shannon, that sounds HARD. It’s not. Use tools like Feedly to aggregate conference notes and share the best of the best. Sharing rule of thumb = Read, Think, Analyze…then share. Quality is what counts here.
- Share Your Story! How many ways are there to share your story, let’s count the ways. 1) Take your notes and transfer the highlights to Evernote or OneNote and share the file. 2) Write them in a blog post and share with your team. 3) Write them up and post to sharepoint. 4) Use a tool like Padlet to collect information and share it with your network. Remember, not sharing information is hoarding. Don’t be a knowledge hoarder.
- Plus One! Download this template for your thank you letter and this action list for your after conference session follow-up plan.
What are you doing as a follow-up for the conference? Share your tips in the comment section below.
what is coming next?
As I have done in the past, I am gathering stories for my “It’s a Wrap” series.
Coming up are stories from:
- Tricia Ransom @TriciaRansom who will talk about how this conference renewed her personal development focus.
- David Smith @dsvirtually who will share his key learning.
- Sam Rogers @snapsynapse gives us her point of view of attending with a team.
- Homz Umrigar from Dubai @homzumrigar Will give us his international point of view
- Chris Coladonato @chriscola will give us her experiences too!
Starting on Tuesday, May 31 and running throughout the week, you will be able to experience the ATD ICE 2016 conference from their eyes, and learn from their stories. NOW, that’s the Rebel way – sharing so we can all learn and grow together.
#LetsDoThis
Don’t miss out! Get tips, tricks and ideas by signing up for the “The Rebellion”!
