How To Get The Most For Your Money When You Attend Conferences + ABBO Meetup at QBC 2018!

We are gearing up to attend QuickBooks Connect next week. At the conference, we seek to meet people we can collaborate with for our business as well as those we can help support through our Ignite Program. Conferences are where magic can happen because you get to connect with people from all over the world who can potentially help you leverage your practice to take it to the next level. The relationships we make by spending time with other experts, help us learn from the experiences of others and find ways to innovate what we do.

We have been helping our clients prepare for the conference by ensuring they set goals for what they want to accomplish by attending. We are also making sure they have everything they need to promote their brand and connect with others. It is essential to understand what you want to achieve before spending the money to attend a conference. If your only goal is to hang out with your friends and take a few classes, there is nothing wrong with that as long as you have the budget and that is what is important to you. But if you hope to earn a return on your investment by attending a conference, you will need to prepare in advance.

Here are a few pointers to be sure you are ready to rock:

1. Reach out to people who you want to meet before the conference. See if you can schedule a time to meet and chat about your goals and objectives.
2. Prepare your elevator speech. What do you offer that can solve a problem for who you want to meet? Get your point across quick then let them talk. Be more interested than interesting.
3. Bring plenty of business cards to share, but be sure to get the other person’s card also. Make a note on the back of the card of why you want to follow up with that person, and be sure to follow up when you get home. Don’t wait for someone to call you!
4. Bring clever SWAG with your company logo. Something that is memorable and they will not want to throw away. It doesn’t have to be expensive!
5. Set goals and crush them! If you want to get CPE credit and network your tail off, be sure you don’t get caught up having too much fun at the social events in the evening. The worst feeling is being hungover and trying to talk to people the next day.
6. With that said, you should attend some networking functions. You want to make connections. One networking event you do not want to miss is our first official ABBO member meet up.
7. Pace yourself. Drink lots of water, eat good food and get some sleep. Take care of yourself, and you will be more productive and alert when you meet people. You want to be at the top of your game.
8. Dress for success! Wearing comfortable shoes is critical because you will be on your feet and walking a ton during the conference and in the evening. It is really cold in the conference centers so be sure to bring a jacket or sweater!

Want to meet our ABBO Hosts and get an official ABBO pin? Join us for the ABBO member social during QuickBooks Connect on Monday, November 5th from 3-5pm. We will be meeting in the lobby at the Hilton (connected to the conference center). Hope to see you there!