Sessions:MakingtheMostofYourTime
Sessionsareanessentialpartofanyconferenceorevent.Theyofferachancetolearnnewskills,networkwithpeers,andstayup-to-dateonindustrytrends.However,withsomanysessionstochoosefrom,itcanbechallengingtoknowwheretofocusyourtime.Inthisarticle,we’llexplorehowtomakethemostofyoursessionsandgetthemostvaluefromyourconferenceexperience.
ChoosingtheRightSessions
Thefirststepinmakingthemostofyoursessionsistochoosetherightonestoattend.Mostconferenceswillprovidealistofsessionsandtheirdescriptionsbeforehand,makingiteasiertoplanyourschedule.Whenchoosingsessions,thinkaboutwhatyouwanttolearnandhowitcanbenefityouinyourrole.Considersessionsthatrelatedirectlytoyourjob,aswellasonesthatcovertopicsyou’reinterestedinbutmaynothavedirectexperiencewith.It’salsoagoodideatobalanceyourschedulebetweensessionsthatarechallengingandthosethataremoreintroductory,tostayengagedandmotivatedthroughouttheconference.
ParticipatingandEngaging
Simplyattendingsessionsisn’tenoughtomaximizeyourconferenceexperience.Totrulybenefitfromasession,it’simportanttoparticipateandengagewiththematerialandthepresenters.Takenotes,askquestions,andshareyourexperienceswithothersinthesession.Ifasessionoffershands-onactivities,takeadvantageofthem,astheyofferagreatwaytoapplynewlylearnedskills.Also,considerschedulingtimetomeetwithpresentersone-on-oneorattendconferenceeventstonetworkwithotherattendeesanddiscussthesessionsyou’veattended.
FollowingUpandTakingAction
Thefinalstepinmaximizingyoursessionsistofollowupandtakeactionaftertheconference.Whileattendingsessionsisanessentialpartoflearning,it’simportanttoapplythatknowledgetoyourday-to-daywork.Reviewyournotesandcreateactionplansbasedonwhatyoulearnedineachsession.Shareyournotesandexperienceswithcolleaguesandbringnewideasandbestpracticesbacktoyourteam.Additionally,don’tbeafraidtoreachouttosessionpresentersorotherattendeesforfurtherdiscussionornetworkingopportunities.
Sessionsareavaluablepartofanyconferenceorevent.Bycarefullyselectingsessionsthatalignwithyourgoals,activelyengagingwiththematerial,andfollowingupwithactionplans,youcangetthemostvaluefromyourconferenceexperience.So,getreadytolearn,grow,andmakethemostofyoursessions!
