Six ways to get the most out of Community Summit 2021

It’s been a while since we’ve been to in-person events. So as Community Summit 2021 approaches, we may wonder if our conference-attending skills are a little rusty? Well, whether you’ve attended two dozen conferences or none at all, it’s a worthy task to consider your approach to the conference. What do you want to get out of Summit? How can you best achieve your goals? You can’t have it all, but you can get what you want the most. Today we’ll cover six tips for successful conference experiences you can leverage to squeeze every last drop of value out of Summit.

Community Summit NA 2021

Community Summit is a yearly event bringing the Microsoft community together for in-person learning and collaboration. It is the largest independent gathering of the Microsoft ecosystem—users, partners, and experts—and boasts three-and-a-half days filled with over 600 sessions hosted by more than 300 experts. At the conference, there will be plenty of real-world learning and training from experts and problem-solving with like-minded peers across so many areas, including ERP, CRM and business solutions, analytics and reporting, implementations, cloud development, automation, and more.

This year, Community Summit is October 12-15 in Houston, Texas. Registration ends on September 30, and if you cannot attend in-person, there’s a Summit Streaming Pass available as well (stream ninety sessions live plus fifty additional sessions on-demand thirty days following the conference). Be sure to connect with Syvantis at Summit—we want to chat with you!

Six tips to get the most out of conferences

1. STRATEGIZE YOUR TIME BY PRIORITIZING AND PLANNING AHEAD.

This is obvious, but you’ll want to get the most out of your limited time. Also obvious: You cannot do everything. But less obvious, until after the fact, is that there’s so much going on at a conference that it’s easy to become overwhelmed and leave feeling like you didn’t achieve everything you wanted to. Maybe you end up focusing on networking the whole time and only attend one or two sessions. Maybe you overload on sessions and don’t meet anyone new.

So you want to sit down and answer this question: What do I want from this conference? Pick 2-3 things you really want to learn and do, and make sure you center your time around those goals. Then you’ll want to look at the agenda and pick sessions that can help you achieve those goals. But don’t overboard on the sessions–attend enough that you feel satisfied while leaving time to network with other attendees and browse the booths. Look at the booth list in advance and make sure you have a list of must-sees. Do the same thing with people you want to connect with. You’ll want to go to sessions for two reasons: because the topic interests you or because the presenter interests you. So sessions don’t serve have to only an educational purpose, they can be networking opportunities as well.

Create a schedule of “must do” items and let that be a rough schedule guiding you through the conference. But, it’s important to allow yourself to deviate from that list if your priorities change. You may discover a new session that interferes with one of your “must dos” or you may have found a promising contact you weren’t expecting—allow yourself flexibility to pursue new goals if they arise.

2. FOLLOW THE HASHTAG #MYSUMMITNA.

This is the official hashtag of Community Summit 2021, so everyone attending will likely post with this tag. It’s a good way to screen news and attendees of the event, and you may see updates, invites, engaging booths or promising events you will want to check out, and even make connections through this tag. Don’t keep your head down on your phone all the time, but do check in now and then. And if you do discover something exciting through checking social, allow yourself the grace to deviate from that plan you made.

3. TAKE NOTES

You’re going to be talking to a lot of people and going to sessions, and though you may think you can remember it all, you won’t. There’s just so much to retain. Keep a good old pen and notebook with you at all times and jot down notes. When you write down a contact’s name and email, jot down a few highlights about them to remember, as well. When you’re in sessions, keep a list of ideas you get as the presenter speaks, insights from the session overall, and any other actionable items. You can reflect on these at the end of each day, on the plane home, or your first day back to work after the conference.

4. GO TO SOCIAL EVENTS

Is this obvious? Maybe. But here it is. Invite people to chat over coffee, go to the happy hour in the conference hotel bar and mingle, and try to get in on dinners or other planned events with people you’re interested in. Do one of your own if you have the capacity. The semi-professional/semi-casual environment of most conferences is an excellent environment to connect. It’s all about networking, as we all know. You want to meet new contacts and connect better with those already a part of your network. When connecting, you want to talk and say things of substance, of course, but you also want to listen, ask meaningful questions that will let the other person shine. You’ll gain insight and the other party will feel appreciated.

5. DON’T FORGET TO FOCUS ON YOUR OWN WELLBEING

Let’s just say it: conferences are a lot. They have to be to pack so much content and value into a few short days. There’s a lot of people there, and though some people feel refreshed after a full day of working a booth at a conference, others get exhausted from casual small talk. Listen to your body and your mind, and do what it needs. That flexibility we talked about earlier? If you get exhausted from being in a room full of strangers, maybe skip that happy hour (despite tip four) and decompress in whatever way you need. You don’t have to be on the whole time. Maybe you get yourself takeout and watch some TV in your hotel room. Maybe you use the gym facilities to burn off your stress. Maybe you’re drained and just need to take a nice shower and sleep. Let yourself do what you need, when you need, to feel your best. This also includes being your authentic self, instead of putting on a “conference persona” that is exhausting to wear all day. If you’re a chill person, don’t feel the need to fake being bubbly. Be nice, but real. Other attendees will probably appreciate it. If you’re not a great small talker, consider talking points to help you navigate conversations and a kind and professional way to excuse yourself from conversations you want out of asap. The standard motherly advice might include be yourself, get plenty of sleep, stay hydrated, eat well, and take breaks when you need to.

6. FOLLOW UP

This is a two-pronged suggestion. First, follow up with yourself (or reflect) at the end of each day. What from your “must do” list did you achieve? Are you satisfied with your day? How can you shift your plan for the following day to get more out of the experience? Checking in with yourself and your goals at the end of each day is a good resetting and reevaluating opportunity so you can feel on top of your conference activities instead of swept up in the whirlwind of it all.

Second, after Summit ends, follow up with people, partners, and experts that you met during the conference. With so much going on and so many people met, it’s easy for you and the other person to forget. You received names, business cards, maybe even social media friend requests, etc., but that’s not quite enough. Make yourself memorable and keep the connection going by reaching out a week or so after the conference. Continued interaction is the only way to strengthen and solidify your network. Email them, send a private message on social media, or even set up meetings if you want to do business with them.

Conferences are for learning and connecting, and because networking is such an important social capital these days, perhaps now more than ever, it’s important to get the most out of your experience at conferences such as Summit.

You can register here for Summit if you have not already done so. Curious about Syvantis? Check us out! Stop by to meet us at our booth or sessions at Summit.