This will be the last in our series on attending midwifery conferences.  Today I want to share my to-do list for conferences – the things I do before and during the conference to make sure I am ready.

1.  Know the dates and plan to spend as much time as possible

I find it works best to accept that the time allotted for a conference is conference time.  This means I don’t try to sneak in on the last possible flight and miss the last few sessions to get out early.  Sometimes this is unavoidable, but the opportunities at a conference make every minute I spend there valuable. Plan around the dates, have work done early and be ready to focus on the conference when those dates come

2. Know the sessions and agenda

This lets me plan out my time.  I know before the conference starts which sessions I don’t want to miss, what days I can plan a long lunch or dinner and what nights I expect to be up late.  Nothing is worse than realizing the speaker you really wanted to see had a session this morning, and you missed it because you didn’t look at the day’s agenda until you woke up.

3. Stay at the conference

I have found that the money I can save by staying at a cheaper hotel isn’t always worth it. Think about how far away you will be, and if you will be able to walk back to your room if you forget something.  Will you need to pay for parking (or rent a car for transportation).  Think about how your choice of location will affect your ability to go out to dinner spontaneously or change plans quickly.  How will your choice of location affect the amount of time it takes to get to the first session in the morning.  Then look at how much money you will be saving and decide if it is really worth it.

4. Make this work time

I’ve noticed that many conferences choose exciting venues, and the temptation is to combine a family vacation with educational sessions.  Usually this doesn’t work.  Either the family or the conference gets ignored.  Your time at a conference is time you are working – educating yourself, making connections.  Evening hours, lunch time and the hours when you skip sessions are all important to making that work successful.  Speaking as someone who has been on both sides of the family at a conference, if you combine a family vacation and work, you will most likely find that you have not used the conference to its fullest potential or your family is annoyed they spent so many hours waiting for you.  If you must combine family and work, set out the schedule ahead of time.  Make sure your family understands which days they are on their own and which times you will join them.  Think of it as two separate vacations in one hotel room.

5. Pack a bag

Choose a bag that is easy and comfortable to carry.  Now place a few key items in this bag.  You will need some paper and a writing utensil.  A phone, computer or ipad doesn’t count because you will not use those to write a note for someone else.  Small cameras can be handy for capturing moments.  A small book to read while waiting for sessions — but don’t let this get in the way of networking opportunities.  Keep your schedule with you – with the sessions you don’t want to miss highlighted.  A map of the venue and possibly nearby restaurants is handy. A water bottle and a non-messy, non-noisy snack help you make it through long sessions. Be sure there is room enough in this bag to put all the handouts and information packets you will get.

So those are my best tips for being ready to make the most of a midwifery conference.  Enjoy the conference season!

Remember I told you there were a few things that were not on the list of networking basics.  Here they are, and the reasons why I don’t consider them necessary.

Adding everyone you meet to Facebook (or other social marketing tool)

As I’ve said, I’m more of an introvert to begin with.  But even if I was not, adding potential business contacts I just met to my personal Facebook account is a bad idea.  In the first place, Facebook isn’t a very good contact storage solution.  Finding people again in a year or two might be difficult if you can not remember the exact name and need to wade through a couple thousand names.  Secondly, if they don’t really know you they might unfriend you after a few weeks of photos of your dog and discussions about your favorite ball team.  Why?  If they use Facebook for business they are not going to want to waste newsfeed with personal stuff.  It’s better to find out if they have a Fan or Business page and connect to that through your business page.

Handing out copies of your business card to everyone

You can do this, and in some industries it is still essential.  But don’t feel you have to have a business card to be successful at networking.  Building your network is more about who you can contact than who will contact you.  Business cards allow the other person to get in touch with you, and in some cases this will be necessary – so always have a few with you.  But most of the information you collect won’t be the type for a business card, so be ready to get that information too. And be sure not to let handing out a business card take the place of really talking to a participant and learning about what they have to offer.

Focusing on meeting the stars of the conference

Big name speakers are exciting to meet, but probably not your best networking connections.  Why?  Usually, everyone at the conference (including you) already knows about their programs and what they have to offer.  Meeting and talking to these speakers might be very motivational and inspiring, but is not likely to do much to build your network of new information and opportunities. A lunch with a group of participants you met in the morning session is more likely to give you more new information – provided you ask the right questions.

Attending every lecture

I love hearing the speakers at conferences.  I am usually challenged to think about things in a new way or gather some new information.  However, if I fill every second of my day with lecture I miss opportunities to meet and talk with the other participants – the key to building a good network.  Instead, be familiar enough with the conference agenda to know what speakers you don’t want to miss and what time slots have the least interesting sessions for you. If there is nothing interesting being talked about, find someone interesting to talk to.

Did I miss anything?  What networking mistakes do you see people make at conferences?

I will be the first to admit that outgoing and extrovert are not words anyone might use to describe me.  Even so, there are times when I need to find the energy to connect with more people, have more conversations and invite strangers to lunch.  Midwifery Conferences are one of those times.

It isn’t that I think this is the time to make friends.  In fact, sort of the opposite.  This is the time to network.  I don’t know how you define networking, but I think of it as building a web of information.  I find out who is doing what and when, keep track of the key information and move on.  And this does an amazing thing for me.

It allows me to discover new opportunities that may be available to me or someone I know.

Did you catch that?  It isn’t just about what is possible for me, but what is possible for other people I know too.  This is how the web is created.  I’m not just collecting information about things I might be interested in, but also listening for what might interest other people. And if something comes up that might be a great opportunity for someone I know, I let them know ASAP so they can investigate it.  And this does an amazing thing for me.

It causes people to see me as a source of information.

Yes, my website also makes me seen as a source of information, but this is different.  This information is about what’s happening in the midwifery world, who to talk to and where to get volunteers.  I become one of the first stops for people embarking on new and interesting projects.  And this does an amazing thing for me.

It widens my sphere of influence.

Not only do I learn about projects early, I am also asked to give input on format and who to include on the team.  I can have a positive effect on the program without having to volunteer myself because I take the time to be connected to other midwives.

This is all well and good, but you are probably reading this because you want to know, “How do I do this?”

You will work out your own style for the exact particulars, but here are the key principles.

1.  Show up and join the conversation.  Look at the booths, go to the luncheons, attend meetings.  Talk to people about what they are doing, what are their next steps and what is the long term goal.  Most people will love to talk about themselves and their projects, so do not feel intimidated.  Just ask questions.

2. Keep track of who you meet.  Make sure you have a way to find this person in the future either by website, organization, personal email or phone. If you can’t get in touch with this person again, your web has not grown.

3. Keep track of the interesting programs and how to get more information about them.  You do not necessarily need to get a “contact name” for each piece of the web.  Some pieces of your web may be books, videos, training programs, pieces of research.  Keep a list of the key pieces of information you learn about.

4. Have one place to store all the information you find. I say one place because if you have to dig through old files to figure out what that book about a subject was two years from now, you probably won’t find the small note on the bottom corner of your lecture handout.  People and organizations are a natural for keeping in a contact directory.  You could use a paper list, Pinterest, Amazon lists or other formats for books.  You might try keeping a special bookmark folder for important research or organization webpages.  Find a way that works for you, so when someone mentions a new project they are starting, you can quickly find the name of the book, or organization, or person that might be helpful to them.

There are some things that are NOT on this list.  I’ll talk about them later.

I have a couple conferences come up in the next few months.  It made me think about how nervous I was about attending my first conference.  I was not sure what to expect, or how to make the best use of the time.

I understood the value of the sessions.  I was eager to learn.  At that point, I underestimated the rest of the value of a conference. As I progressed in my knowledge, the value of the sessions decreased.  If I hadn’t had other reasons for attending conferences, I might have stopped.  It would have been a mistake, because conferences have value above and beyond the new learning and ideas I can glean.

So what is the biggest value of attending a conference?  The people.  While this may be a no-brainer to some, I’m more of an introvert with a few close friends rather than a large network of people I barely know.  However, my opportunities greatly broadened as I began to grow a network.

Attending conferences gave me a chance to be around like-minded people.  This helped to keep my energy fresh and my interest in birth growing. I do notice that the years I am not able to get away to a conference my work begins to drag.

Attending conferences gave me a chance to be around people who faced problems I had not encountered.  This helped me to have a much better understanding of the birth world, and to be prepared for issues that may affect me in the future.

Attending conferences gave me a chance to be around people who solved problems in a variety of ways.  This helped me to stay open to new ways of thinking about the issues facing families I worked with and helped me to become a better advocate for families that didn’t see things the way I see them.

Attending conferences gave me a chance to be around people who could learn from my experiences.  This helped me to be more open about sharing what I learn and where I struggle.

Attending conferences gives me a chance to volunteer to help promote safe birth. Understanding all the work that goes into a conference or an organization helps me to not judge organizations so harshly when they don’t do what I think they should do.

Attending conferences gave me a chance to be around people who approach the work of birth from many different angles.  This helped me to see the wide variety of opportunities available to me, encouraging me to set my goals bigger.

Attending conferences gave me a chance to be around people I love to chat with on the internet.  This builds and strengthens friendships that are the backbone of my support system.  But it also gave me a chance to be around people I don’t like on the internet.  This allows me to see them as a whole person and understand more about their view.

And privately, attending conferences gives me a chance to watch other birth professionals and see what characteristics I like and admire, and which characteristics I want to be sure I do not emulate.

Honestly, attending a conference will do more to help you grow professionally than giving you a few educational lectures.  You just need to know how to “work” at a conference – and I don’t mean hiring a table. I’ll share more about that next time.

Did you know you can watch videos of some of the presentations from the CPM symposium which happened in March?

They are listed here: http://cpmsymposium.com/live-stream-players/

Enjoy!

I went to a conference recently because I wanted to attend the session on food allergies.  I like conferences, but sometimes they can be too similar to school.  This one was no exception, but the review was good.

Anyway, what I wanted to share was some amazing advice from the physician who shared about allergies.  They are changing the standards and the recommendations against staring allergy causing foods later.  Apparently the delayed introduction is not working to prevent allergies, so they say there is no reason to hold the foods back.  If a child is going to be allergic, they will be allergic.

Second big news, no reason to screen for a food allergy unless a child has had a reaction to the food.  It seems it wasn’t effective enough at identifying those most at risk for bad reactions, and wrongly identified some children as allergic who were not.

You can read the new clinical guidelines here: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/topics/foodallergy/clinical/pages/default.aspx

Enjoy!

I’ve updated the Childbirth Conferences Calendar. It has all the pregnancy and birth related conferences I could remember and find during the update.

This time I got a bit more tech-savvy.  I made it a Google Calendar so you can search by the calendar view and if you find a conference that appeals to you it is easy to add it to your personal Google Calendar.  If you want, you can add the whole calendar to your Google Calendar and always know what conference is going on.

I’ll be at the ACNM conference in Texas this year, and am considering Reframing Birth and Breastfeeding: Moving Forward in North Carolina.  Hope you find a conference that fits your interests, schedule and budget.