Last year was my first time attending NACMA. Participating in the YP Workshop was one of the best decisions I made. I knew a decent amount of Young Professionals who’d be attending the conference and the workshop ahead of time, but starting off the conference experience with the workshop really set the tone for the conference. Here are a few ways to get the most out of the workshop experience.
- Come prepared. Make sure to bring your nametag, a water bottle, your preferred method of note taking (laptop or paper and pen/pencil) and business cards.
- Phones. Keep them in your bag/pocket etc., unless you’re tweeting about the workshop, but there’ll be several breaks where you can check your phone if you really need too.
- Meet new people. Do not just sit with your friends during breakfast split up and sit with people you don’t know too. After each panel/activity sit somewhere new to meet more people. Introduce yourself; you never know whom you’ll meet.
- Business cards. Do not try to collect the most cards… focus on building genuine relationships.
- Do your research. This has two parts:
- The panelist and committee members that will be at the workshop have a wide variety of experiences and backgrounds. Take advantage of it! Spend 30 minutes, maybe an hour and jot down a few notes about everyone or a specific person you’re interested in talking to. When the opportunity presents itself, talk to them during a break. You won’t have to spend the time asking them about their background and can ask a more specific question about their career path etc. However, do not feel discouraged if they can’t stick around after their panel, they might have another commitment. If this is the case, see tip #7.
- You have the topics for the panels in advance if there’s something specific you want to know about the topic/a panelist’s experience with it write it down in advance then you can ask during that session.
6. Future Opportunities. Tying in to number 3 and 4. You never know who you’ll meet and they might be able to help you further down the road with an intern/GA or entry level position. Make a good first impression. 7. Follow Up. When the session/conference is over make sure to follow up with everyone you met and the panelist. I personally am a fan of writing thank you/follow up notes to continue the relationships that began at the conference. You can also send an email, but those have the chance of getting lost in an inbox. 8. Have Fun!
Hopefully these 8 tips help you get the most out of the NACMA YP Workshop. For more information on the NACMA YP Workshop read this blog by Nicole Jones: http://nacma.nacda.com/blogs/nicole-jones/2017/04/21/calling-all-nacma-young-professionals-nacma17
There is a registration fee of $125 and you must register to attend when submitting your registration for NACMA 2017. If you have already registered and did not register for the YP Workshop, please email Hannah Mordica (hmordica@nacda.com) at the NACDA office to be place on the attendee list
If you have any questions about the workshop or the conference in general please don’t hesitate to reach out! My email is kprchlik@gmail.com or you can contact me on Twitter: @KatiePrchlik.