5 Tips to Conquer Professional Conferences Without a Colleague at Your Side   

For some people, attending an event that brings hundreds of thousands of people to a city – as I did this year, at SXSW — can be daunting, especially if it is one that has a heavy element of social interaction (I mean, who are you if you can’t take the time off the show floor to eat some barbecue, watch some shows or go to Happy Hour?).

The scenario that brought me to this dazzling annual event may sound familiar: I was sent by my communications agency to support a handful of clients, bring back key learnings to the firm, attend networking events, and represent the company among the crowd of marketing professionals who swarm the show.

The catch? I was doing it alone.  This solo attendance, however, doesn’t mean that a professional has to stand on the sidelines like a wallflower. Instead, my advice would be to aim to maximize the takeaway value for your business back home, and still revel in your “free agent” status: you’re able to devise your own schedule, sneak away from a panel that you thought would be relevant to your company (but isn’t), or plop down in a comfy nook for a few minutes to furiously scribble some notes for your boss on an industry presentation that left you breathless – all without any quizzical looks or texts from a kind but concerned co-worker, wondering why you aren’t standing by the pillar where she left you.

Here then are five tips to attending a huge show/event/conference unaccompanied:   

Sketch a Rough Plan of “Must-Do” Events
Conferences can be incredibly crowded. There’s an immense pressure to attend every panel, stop by every meetup and to do it all after a night of staying up until 3 a.m. To keep yourself organized, outline events in two categories: “must do” and “maybe if I have time,” allowing some flexibility in between. Sometimes, you’ll learn that an event isn’t as advertised, or is now at capacity – so having the flexibility to go to something else is key. And since you don’t have a colleague or co-founder to worry about also accommodating, this flexibility can be quite freeing.

This year, I did my outline on paper – in my handy notebook that I then kept in my purse at all times. This was instrumental and a great way to take a break from my laptop/phone screen – and keep those batteries intact.

Use the Tools Available
Before the show, activate your current network. Who do you know who is going? Inquire  around the office, bring it up while having dinner with friends, or change your Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn status to ask who is attending – these are all ways you can arrange a meeting at the show, especially with contacts you don’t normally see.

Also embrace the art of joining up with people your colleagues and friends introduce to you. It may seem random to meet up with your roommate’s childhood friend, but if you’re in similar industries, it can actually be valuable. Even if they aren’t, just give it a try – this show, I did meet up with my roommate’s childhood friend, a middle school teacher based in Austin. And then, over a Frito pie, she told me about how tech companies have changed the layout of Austin, and about how her eighth graders’ attention span seemed to shrink each year as more of them received mobile phones and iPads as children. This was a valuable insight into the next generation of consumers, who are an incredible focus for the next wave in tech marketing. 

Keep a Notebook at Hand
No one likes staring at a phone all day for notes, directions, and schedules. A notebook will save you from neck cramps and be a valuable asset if you ever meet someone who’s fresh out of business cards. If all else fails, it’s a conversation piece. I received many compliments on my graph paper notebook and old-fashioned pen. 

Listen and Learn
One of the best things about attending a conference by yourself is that you’re at full capacity to listen and learn. As a marketer, I was able to observe how people reacted to the differing marketing campaigns being activated throughout the show. What worked? Texting alerts instead of telling people to wait in line to use a VR machine. What didn’t work? Urging people to download your app in order to enter your booth without Wi-Fi (no one did it, naturally). 

Let Your Guard Down
Finally, one of the last things you must do if you’re attending a crowded, exhausting event is to be okay with relaxing a little, and connecting with people not just about technology and business, but about the really great band playing on the corner, or about how amazing it is to sit down after spending the whole day running around on your feet.

Chances are, there are other people around who are also attending without a co-founder at their side, or great people next to you at the panel that share your interests. There’s nothing wrong with connecting over something that isn’t obviously “professional” first – after all, the best business contacts and relationships start with mutual respect, and sometimes, friendship.