Schedule meetings at the start of the conference first as this will allow you to catch-up with people that you “bump into” later on. Quite often, international travellers will be at the conference a day or two earlier than when the event starts. Setup meetings with them during this time as it will save you space in your schedule during NamesCon itself.
Take notes in all your meetings! After the tenth meeting everything just become a blur so make sure you take notes with what you’ve committed to follow-up.
Reserve the evening for some socialising and meeting different people. A couple of things though….you can’t have a reasonable conversation with someone if the music is too loud. At best, you’ll be able to suggest meeting the next day.
It’s very rare that good business deals are conducted with drunk people at 2am. It’s far better to get a good night’s sleep then try and do a deal with a person that won’t remember you the next day.
Whatever you do, walk the exhibit hall! This is a must do activity as the people manning booths in the exhibit hall are WANTING to do some business. The challenge is to sort out whether what they are offering matches with what you are seeking.
On the last night of a conference I like to relax and get together with a group of people who are prepared to leave business at the door. Deals that can be done have already been done so my goal is often to catch-up with old friends, talk about our families and have a good time together. There’s a lot more to life than business and I personally find this time really rewarding.
On my journey back home, I refer to the various business cards, my diary, and notes to put together a conference summary report. I find this focuses my mind on the opportunities and what I’ve committed myself to while providing members of the ParkLogic team a snapshot of what was achieved while I was away. This also provides a quick list of all of the people I need to follow-up.
If I feel up to it, I will often email all the people I’ve met at NamesCon while on the plane flying home. When I land and connect to the Internet, all the emails will be sent out and I then need to think about following them up.