Get the Most out of Industry Events: After the Event

Lisa Stanko

_{Head of Marketing at RE/MAX Europe}

Activate your follow-up plan to turn every event into business growth!

Attending an event can be a whirlwind of experiences and information. You’ve met new colleagues and learned new tips and techniques to take your farther. But it will all be wasted if you return home and fall back into the same old routine.

That’s why it’s important to follow up in a variety of ways in the immediate days after the event in order to make the most of your new knowledge and experiences. So grab your notes and all the business cards you collected, and learn how to make that event pay off for you right away.

1. Organize your notes for action

Review your notes from the conference as soon as possible while the ideas are still fresh in your mind to make it easier to implement what you’ve learned. Prioritize and sort that information into different categories, such as ideas and techniques, and then break them up further into sub-categories such as short/long term, or increased profit or efficiency.

Once you have organized the new information, set a schedule for yourself with tasks to implement new techniques – whether that’s following up with people through email, reading books or blogs or participating in additional education or tutorials. Remember, the only way to achieve any new objectives is to schedule the time to put them to use.

2. Turn contacts into connections

When you return from the conference, you will want to be able to re-establish contact with the people you met to develop a closer business relationship and to keep yourself at the forefront of their minds. A personal note mentioning specifics from your previous conversation helps you to be remembered and establishes a more meaningful connection.

Make contact on social media, as this can benefit you in the long run. Look for chances to interact on social media so they will keep you in their minds if a chance for collaboration occurs or if they need your services.

Consider following some of the keynote speakers on social media and posting photos or videos of their talks as well. Send a polite message letting them know that you enjoyed their talk. You may receive some additional notes or advice on where to continue educating yourself about their topic.

3. Spread the word

The new ideas and information you gain at an event can double in usefulness when you share it. Write a short post on LinkedIn, or other industry forums, to pass on what you have learned and what you think the community might be interested in. This gives people an opening to talk to you about the event and add to the ideas and concepts you gathered. And post photos and videos from the event on your social media channels and on the event website to keep the discussions going and spread ideas, which will help you position you as an expert.

Share your new knowledge and skills with colleagues who may not have been able to attend the event – and encourage your coworkers to do the same the next time they attend an industry function. This puts your time and energy to best use and may also save money in the long run if events are split between colleagues or teams who return to share what they have learned.

4. Put it all to use

By making the most of your ideas and connections, you will increase the value of the time spent at events. But what’s more, keeping your new knowledge fresh will bring value to your company and transform the way you work.

With the 2019 European Convention just around the corner, put these tips to use to make sure the benefits of #reucon19 keep paying off year after year!

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