The following is a summary of Session 16 of my podcast, The Engineering Career Coach (TECC) Podcast with Anthony Fasano, PE. I will summarize the main points in this post here; however, you can also listen to the show through the player below or by subscribing on iTunes. I offer a career-changing tip at the end of each podcast session.
In this session of the TECC Podcast, I speak with long-time military engineer and author of the Engineer Leader blog Christian Knutson, PE, PMP, ENV SP.
1. Set Your Intentions – Understand why you are attending the conference and what you want to get out of it.
2. Know the Agenda – Review the learning sessions available prior to attending the event and recognize which sessions and speakers will help you achieve your goals.
3. Identify Networking Opportunities – Find out when there will be key networking opportunities at the conference and whom you may want to network with.
4. Research the Destination – Learn about the city that you will be visiting, especially its history and some engineering features.
5. Investigate Potential Tours/Adventures – You are traveling; take advantage of it. Don’t sit in your hotel room—take a tour, visit a famous site.
6. Experience the Culture – Don’t eat all of your meals in your hotel—get out and experience the culture of the city or country you are visiting.
7. Be Safe – It’s great to go out and experience new things, but be safe, especially in an environment that you are not familiar with. Make sure you carry some papers with all of the important information, like your hotel name and address, etc.
8. Stretch Yourself – Don’t just hang out with the people you came to the conference with. Go outside your comfort zone and meet new people. This can be extremely uncomfortable, but this is how you grow.
9. Implement Strategies from the Conference – Review the information that you learn at conferences and try to implement it when you return to your office. Also review and decide whether or not you achieved your goals for the conference—why or why not?
Please comment below and offer any other steps that you take to maximize your conference experiences.
This is a guest post by Anthony Fasano, PE, author of Engineer Your Own Success. Anthony found success as an engineer at a very early age and now writes and podcasts to help other engineers do the same. Visit Anthony’s website at EngineeringCareerCoach.com for free engineering career advice and other resources.