Surviving Your First Corporate Conference: Tips and Tricks from a Young Professional

Tips for your first corporate conference!

So you’re a young professional being sent to their first corporate conference! Congrats! 

I recently had a chance to attend the 2024 IEEE PES T&D Conference this last week and was immediately hit with 900+ exhibitors, 17,000+ attendees, and way too many seminars, talks, and panels to choose from. Conventions and conferences can be extremely overwhelming your first time around and continuously confusing even after that.

Here are my 5 tips for your first time attending a big conference to make sure you:

1. Attend everything you want to

2. See everything you need to

3. Network yourself with other professionals

4. Have a great time at the conference!

1 - Get the early bird tickets and hotel reservations if you can!

By getting the early bird tickets, you'll get the cheapest price for tickets and attendance. Plus! You will have access to the hotels partnered with the conference of the best availability and proximity to the convention venue. Many times.. cough cough looking at the sales guys from my current company the closest and cheapest hotel options will sell out faster than you think, leaving you with a long walk or long transportation times. If you know when you are attending by purchasing the early bird tickets and/or flights, you'll have access to the conference hotel rates usually listed on their website or emailed to ticket owners when they become available.

2 - Plan your panels and schedule ahead of time!

Every conference will have a variety of activities throughout the event and it can become very overwhelming once you get there. Most conferences will publish, post, and email attendees a tentative or set conference schedule a few weeks ahead of time with everything you need to know. My biggest suggestion for this is listing your priorities from the event. Are you there to network? Learn? Market your company/personal skills to another? See a particular speaker? Or even compare your company to other exhibitors? 

Once you find your priorities, look at the published schedule and find the top 3-5 things that interest you. Write out a daily itinerary revolving around those 3-5, leaving room for traveling, eating, and rest. Make sure to leave a good bit of time for walking around the Exhibit Halls (and snag some free merch while you're there!) Panels usually run a tad bit long, even when it's a big professional convention host like IEEE, especially when panels or event special guests take Q&A sessions after the scheduled time. 

3 - Dress well and wear good shoes!

Nice clothing is always a must for me. Some conferences and conventions have no set dress code besides the “no shirt, no shoes, no service” but I find wearing well fitted, business attire makes me more presentable, more confident, and well received. 

As a lady, I usually wear nice fitting breathable slacks, a light colored blouse/button down, and some sort of jacket option. Blue shirts have the most benefits according to color theory, but any neutral color seems to bode well. Black or navy pantsuits typically make you seem more corporate bad-ass and neutral florals or patterns can make you seem more creative. I would personally suggest avoiding bright colors and make sure the outfit is complimentary to your natural appearance. 

Funny enough, I always make the shoe mistake, never learning my lesson. My first day at the T&D Conference, I decided to wear my most professional and girly shoes… some black three inch heels. Now, I was an exhibitor at this last conference so the first day was the final set up of our booth, then standing on the flat carpet-on-concrete floor for 7 hours. Big mistake. I immediately switched to comfortable flats the next day.

However, even with professional clothing, comfortable sneakers or tennis shoes are completely acceptable and heavily suggested, especially if you are walking around the Exhibit Hall or attending panels across the venue. 

4 - Network, network, network!

Don’t be afraid to ask questions and get contacts! Whether it's in the Exhibit Hall or after a panel or speaker, if you see someone interesting or hear about something you're interested in, introduce yourself! I would go for a full elevator-pitch, but don't be afraid to talk about yourself too.

I had the chance to walk around the 900+ exhibitors and met loads of interesting people. For instance, before the exhibit hall opened up, I saw a booth testing out a huge waterfall installation that displayed their company name - something that would have cost thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars. A member of the booth walked up to me while admiring, so I initiated a good conversation. I started with the water installation, asked what the gentleman did at the company, told him about myself, then asked some more specific questions about his company products and where they sat in the industry. After chatting for a bit, I learned the gentleman went to highschool with another major manager at my own company. So small world! 

The point of that story was, you never know when just chatting about something silly can turn into a great business contact or friend, so don't be afraid to chat people up!

5 - Get involved with your company or other company activities!

One thing I learned from this conference and a few others is - I love free food! Well at least “paid for by the company” free.

Related to networking, getting involved with activities like dinners, meetings, training, or other meet-ups is a great way to get-to-know your fellow co-workers. For bigger companies like mine, we have employees fly in from all over the world that I wouldn't normally see. Over booth set up and drinks, I learned about their jobs, things that I could help with from a content standpoint, and even departmental training that can be used as a company-wide employee resource. 

On the note of free food though… I think I have had my most delicious meals during company conference dinners. I am not saying use the max amount of company money, but I am saying don't be afraid to enjoy your time while being sent away from the office. I typically ask what others are buying/ordering and try to fall under that price umbrella. I would also suggest brushing up on your company expense policy. For example, if there is a meal price average you should be following or if drinks need to be limited in most or all instances.

Conclusion

So there you have it, fellow conference rookies! Embrace the chaos, strut your professional style (with comfy shoes, of course), and dive headfirst into those networking waters. Remember, it's not just about the panels and presentations; it's about the connections you make and the experiences you gather. And hey, if all else fails, at least you'll come back with a belly full of good food and a head full of memories. Happy conferencing, and may your business cards be forever in your favor!