Transcripts
Hi, welcome to the Close the Loop podcast.
Kevin Dieny:Thank you for listening, my name is Kevin Dieny, I'm your host.
Kevin Dieny:Today, we're gonna be jumping into the topic of how to get the most
Kevin Dieny:value out of an in-person event?
Kevin Dieny:So, how do you go about getting that value?
Kevin Dieny:How do you go about maximizing your time spent away from the office away from work,
Kevin Dieny:whatever it is at an in-person event.
Kevin Dieny:Right?
Kevin Dieny:So this is often a, sort of a, sometimes hotly debated topic with employees
Kevin Dieny:who want to go to events, maybe some who really don't wanna go to event.
Kevin Dieny:Don't see why there's a point to going.
Kevin Dieny:Some people are just not interested.
Kevin Dieny:Other times, it's hard to see the value in events.
Kevin Dieny:I think because, uh, the way they're structured, the way they're laid
Kevin Dieny:out, the types of experiences that maybe events used to have, some
Kevin Dieny:of them are different than others.
Kevin Dieny:There's actually quite a lot of variety in the types of events that you can attend.
Kevin Dieny:So we're gonna dive into all of that, but essentially we're gonna focus.
Kevin Dieny:In person, non virtual, the actual in person event style.
Kevin Dieny:Right?
Kevin Dieny:So we're not gonna talk about webinars or anything like that.
Kevin Dieny:We want to focus on how do we get the most value out of those types of
Kevin Dieny:events, where we're gonna be going in.
Kevin Dieny:Now there's things like trade shows, right?
Kevin Dieny:Where maybe the public attends as well.
Kevin Dieny:Maybe there's a lot of, a lot of selling going on on the
Kevin Dieny:floors of these types of events.
Kevin Dieny:Those are maybe a little different than what I'm focusing on here.
Kevin Dieny:I'd like to focus specifically.
Kevin Dieny:On the types of educational based events, right?
Kevin Dieny:So industry types of events, events, where your company along with maybe
Kevin Dieny:lots of other companies, just like you you're representative of your
Kevin Dieny:company, or you're representing your team or your function, your role.
Kevin Dieny:The types of struggles and problems you have are sort of supplied by
Kevin Dieny:this event, whatever it is, right.
Kevin Dieny:That is the type of event that I'm talking...
Kevin Dieny:Want to talk about.
Kevin Dieny:So those types of events, I like to call educational events, right.
Kevin Dieny:So how are we gonna get the most value out of an educational type, uh, event?
Kevin Dieny:And that's the types of events.
Kevin Dieny:I think that are sometimes the hardest to see the value in.
Kevin Dieny:And that's why I like to focus on this.
Kevin Dieny:Um, if there's any other type of event, right?
Kevin Dieny:It, it would just be easier to see the value in those events, cuz they're
Kevin Dieny:either more sales related, more aligned to finding your customers
Kevin Dieny:at the event, anything like that.
Kevin Dieny:So let's say you're going to an in person event as an.
Kevin Dieny:You're not sponsoring it, right?
Kevin Dieny:You're not, you don't have a booth.
Kevin Dieny:You don't have a, a section, a quarter, an area you don't have your
Kevin Dieny:brand's logo or anything like that.
Kevin Dieny:Maybe, maybe you have some low level, uh, sponsorship to be able to attend,
Kevin Dieny:but it's not like you're attending to sell to your customers at this event.
Kevin Dieny:You're going, because you wanna learn, you want education and you want networking.
Kevin Dieny:So I see value from events like this.
Kevin Dieny:If we focus on it as what kind of, how do we get the most value out of an event?
Kevin Dieny:I like to focus on there's two types of values.
Kevin Dieny:All right.
Kevin Dieny:The first one I believe is definitely educational.
Kevin Dieny:The second value I think you get out of in person events is the networking.
Kevin Dieny:So your community, your connections, you know, anything like that.
Kevin Dieny:So let's focus on let's, let's kind of dive into the first
Kevin Dieny:one here, which is education.
Kevin Dieny:So let's say there's an industry event and you've decided, Hmm, I
Kevin Dieny:don't know if I wanna go to this.
Kevin Dieny:Why pitch me?
Kevin Dieny:Why I should go to this?
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:Well, first I'd say, well, not every in person educational
Kevin Dieny:event is the same, right?
Kevin Dieny:Some of them are done really well and some of them are not.
Kevin Dieny:So there's a few things you may want to consider.
Kevin Dieny:how do I know an event's gonna be great or not a few things you could look at
Kevin Dieny:is, do you know anyone who's been before?
Kevin Dieny:If it's the first time going to something like this, maybe ask someone
Kevin Dieny:who, you know, has gone before.
Kevin Dieny:If you don't know anyone who's gone before, then it's a little dicier.
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:And it's like, okay, well, how do I know?
Kevin Dieny:Well, there's a few things, right.
Kevin Dieny:There's okay.
Kevin Dieny:What are the topics going to be that are gonna be discussed at this event?
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:Or any of them relevant to me?
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:So something.
Kevin Dieny:It's easy to run into for an industry event is you go there
Kevin Dieny:and you're like, all right, great.
Kevin Dieny:They're they're gonna help my company, my industry that I'm in.
Kevin Dieny:And you realize this is only for the big guys, you know, so you kind of
Kevin Dieny:wanna make sure they're catering to the type of business you are as well.
Kevin Dieny:And that should show up in the language.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, usually every event that I've ever seen has sort of a who's this event.
Kevin Dieny:right.
Kevin Dieny:Who should be attending this event?
Kevin Dieny:That that should be fairly obvious.
Kevin Dieny:Most events have a webpage or some sort of a, an article or something written on
Kevin Dieny:a website that describes here's the event.
Kevin Dieny:Here's what it's for.
Kevin Dieny:Um, some of them come as part of your membership in a group, right?
Kevin Dieny:Uh, let's say the group's like, well, we meet in person these times a year.
Kevin Dieny:You can choose to come.
Kevin Dieny:Maybe you want to come to one.
Kevin Dieny:That's more local.
Kevin Dieny:There's a lot of ways I think to diagnose.
Kevin Dieny:Okay.
Kevin Dieny:What's the quality of the topic?
Kevin Dieny:Is it hitting my specific business?
Kevin Dieny:Not just my industry.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, what, what about the speakers?
Kevin Dieny:Who are they?
Kevin Dieny:Are they speakers that I'd say you could probably learn something
Kevin Dieny:from, are they reputable?
Kevin Dieny:Do they have a good background?
Kevin Dieny:Do they, could they know what they're talking about?
Kevin Dieny:Another concept to consider is okay.
Kevin Dieny:Are are they gonna be.
Kevin Dieny:Pitching and selling to me every second of my day at this event, uh,
Kevin Dieny:even in person educational events have quite a bit of let's call it selling.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, when I looked up this online, a lot of people were like, I just feel
Kevin Dieny:like I'm fish in a giant shark tank.
Kevin Dieny:that go to one event, which I could totally see why, uh, most events have like
Kevin Dieny:a, an, a sponsor floor or a marketplace or a venue vendor offering area.
Kevin Dieny:And look at that a little bit like that's unsatisfactory, or I'm not happy
Kevin Dieny:about being sold to, I hate being, I hate seeing, you know, all these
Kevin Dieny:vendors and they're all looking for me and wanting me to come by their
Kevin Dieny:booth or their area to talk to them.
Kevin Dieny:Or they're constantly harassing me, try to look at it a little differently.
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:So yes, the vendors are there and they really want you to talk to them, but they
Kevin Dieny:really are only looking for people to.
Kevin Dieny:So think about it like that.
Kevin Dieny:I've been to a lot of vendor booths and been like, Hey, look, I see what you do.
Kevin Dieny:Here's my problem.
Kevin Dieny:Is that something that can be helped?
Kevin Dieny:And a lot of 'em wanna just say, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kevin Dieny:We, we can help anyone, but it's not really true.
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:If you have Ave a really quality vendor floor experience is when you
Kevin Dieny:go, Hey, look, here's my situation.
Kevin Dieny:Can you help me?
Kevin Dieny:And they'll go, you know, I don't think we can, or me, they go, you know what?
Kevin Dieny:We totally can.
Kevin Dieny:Here's how we would.
Kevin Dieny:Here's how it would kind of look.
Kevin Dieny:And if you don't feel confident about it, if you walk away, it's not, you
Kevin Dieny:know, it's not that bad for them to send you an email after you say, you
Kevin Dieny:know what, I'm just not interested or unsubscribe from it or whatever.
Kevin Dieny:So while yes, being sold to feels uncomfortable.
Kevin Dieny:I would say the potential to find a solution to a problem you have, that you
Kevin Dieny:may feel, you know what I'm I could figure this out, but there might be a better way.
Kevin Dieny:Can you keep your options open?
Kevin Dieny:Are you willing to see if there are ways to solve this?
Kevin Dieny:You may not know of also a lot of times vendors that are at a specific
Kevin Dieny:industry event have quite a lot of experience with your industry.
Kevin Dieny:So if there's ones you haven't heard of, or there's something there that
Kevin Dieny:you didn't realize existed, you might be, I think it's worth one.
Kevin Dieny:It's worth checking out and figuring out, you know, who are you?
Kevin Dieny:What do you do?
Kevin Dieny:You're interviewing the vendors as much as they're trying to pitch you.
Kevin Dieny:So, um, that one's a little, I that's one where I totally understand.
Kevin Dieny:I don't know if I've ever heard of an, a in person educational
Kevin Dieny:type of event that had no vendors.
Kevin Dieny:I think typically.
Kevin Dieny:The event wants them to be there because they know that some people
Kevin Dieny:get a lot of value out of having those good communications, maybe
Kevin Dieny:meeting their vendor in person for the first time, uh, is valuable.
Kevin Dieny:So I wouldn't discount that as like a so negative as much as, as
Kevin Dieny:widely as it is viewed as like a problematic aspect of attending events.
Kevin Dieny:The other thing that comes up a lot is.
Kevin Dieny:And this is more recent, right?
Kevin Dieny:This is more in like the last three years.
Kevin Dieny:This is our in person event safe.
Kevin Dieny:Or should we just always have virtual events, like webinars on demand,
Kevin Dieny:videos, recordings of the speakers.
Kevin Dieny:You know, a lot of times a speaker will come up, talk at an in person
Kevin Dieny:event and afterward you get their talk recorded in a video anyway, you know,
Kevin Dieny:or you get what they said, you get everything that they were offering.
Kevin Dieny:They, some conferences or events have like a virtual path.
Kevin Dieny:right.
Kevin Dieny:Because some people aren't comfortable meeting in person.
Kevin Dieny:So picks question are in person events, even warranted, are they needed?
Kevin Dieny:Cause they're costly.
Kevin Dieny:You know, the space, the area.
Kevin Dieny:Do people really feel that strongly about meeting in person that they can't get
Kevin Dieny:the same value from a virtual or, or, or other type of, um, meeting type of event.
Kevin Dieny:And I'd say in there's something special, there's something extraordinarily
Kevin Dieny:valuable about an in person event.
Kevin Dieny:And, the in person part is critical because when you're surrounded by people
Kevin Dieny:who are just like you or in a similar industry as you, or similar role, or
Kevin Dieny:trying to solve the same problem as you, that's so valuable, not just networking
Kevin Dieny:with them, but learning from them, there's almost always Q and a in session.
Kevin Dieny:And they usually edit those out of those videos that you see.
Kevin Dieny:There's also a lot.
Kevin Dieny:Interesting experiences that occur can occur only when you're there.
Kevin Dieny:You're gonna, you're gonna eat lunch.
Kevin Dieny:You're gonna eat snacks.
Kevin Dieny:You're gonna, you know, be walking or roaming the halls of some event
Kevin Dieny:you're gonna be taking break.
Kevin Dieny:There's a lot of opportunity to just be around and soak up the energy of
Kevin Dieny:these people and feel like, okay, if it's a real struggle, is everyone
Kevin Dieny:else really feeling that struggle too?
Kevin Dieny:That's always really interesting.
Kevin Dieny:Then there's the networking part of it, you know, which I'll get into in
Kevin Dieny:a little bit, but that is so valuable.
Kevin Dieny:So immensely important to have as well to have that, I would say confirmation that.
Kevin Dieny:You're not the only one.
Kevin Dieny:Like how good does it feel to know, okay.
Kevin Dieny:I'm not the only one struggling with this problem.
Kevin Dieny:You know, whether it's hiring marketing strategy, business, finance, you
Kevin Dieny:know, securing equipment, getting, um, insurance, whatever it is, right.
Kevin Dieny:Every business has some struggle in an industry.
Kevin Dieny:It's really nice to see this is confirmed, right.
Kevin Dieny:And be able to talk to people.
Kevin Dieny:And usually the speakers even.
Kevin Dieny:You can talk to them.
Kevin Dieny:Every event I've been to after the speaker talks, there's almost
Kevin Dieny:always a little bit of time.
Kevin Dieny:You can go up and say, Hey, can I, you know, ask this question
Kevin Dieny:or can I connect with you after?
Kevin Dieny:Or, or I love what you said about this, but I have a question, you know, . What
Kevin Dieny:do you think about, what do you think about X, Y, Z, those opportunities that
Kevin Dieny:an in-person event offers sometimes eclipse, anything a virtual event can do.
Kevin Dieny:So I, I don't think it's enough to say virtual event should never exist.
Kevin Dieny:I think everything has a place, but there's something very special about
Kevin Dieny:a whole bunch of people willing to get in a flight or travel and go to an
Kevin Dieny:in-person event to get value out of it.
Kevin Dieny:There's something really unique and special about that.
Kevin Dieny:It's like a movie on opening.
Kevin Dieny:right.
Kevin Dieny:filled with fans of people of that, you know, movie type.
Kevin Dieny:If it's like a star wars movie that opening night is pretty.
Kevin Dieny:Second part of what I wanted to talk about in terms of value, right?
Kevin Dieny:Um, the first part's education, so you're gonna learn.
Kevin Dieny:The second part is networking.
Kevin Dieny:Now.
Kevin Dieny:Networking has its own slate of problems.
Kevin Dieny:I think it's closer to what people fear and dislike the most about events.
Kevin Dieny:They could say, oh, I don't like being sold to, but I think more often than not.
Kevin Dieny:Deep down.
Kevin Dieny:People are like, Ugh, I don't want to have to meet other people.
Kevin Dieny:I don't wanna have to have conversations with strangers or, or feel like I
Kevin Dieny:have to be extroverted for a while.
Kevin Dieny:I don't know about having, you know, what am I gonna say?
Kevin Dieny:What am I do?
Kevin Dieny:Walk up to a complete random person say hi, I'm Kevin.
Kevin Dieny:You know, nice to meet you.
Kevin Dieny:Like that can be awkward.
Kevin Dieny:There's could be a circle of people talking.
Kevin Dieny:Are you gonna break that, you know, circle and walk in there and say,
Kevin Dieny:hi, can I join your conversation?
Kevin Dieny:feels a little bit awkward.
Kevin Dieny:So that horrible, awkward social aspect to networking is not something that I
Kevin Dieny:think anyone has a CR like a, a silver bullet fix for , there's some events
Kevin Dieny:that definitely make that easier.
Kevin Dieny:They say, okay, here's a networking time.
Kevin Dieny:Here's a specific open bar, or here's a restaurant, or here's an
Kevin Dieny:activity we're gonna do where we're going to put people together and
Kevin Dieny:make it easier to break the ice.
Kevin Dieny:You know, icebreakers is the way to.
Kevin Dieny:the other thing you can to remember is at an event, people are gonna
Kevin Dieny:be being like, Hey, who are you?
Kevin Dieny:How are you?
Kevin Dieny:You know, what do you work for?
Kevin Dieny:What do you do?
Kevin Dieny:Tell me a little bit more about your company that's to be expected.
Kevin Dieny:And it's okay.
Kevin Dieny:I think, to, to be uncomfortable and awkward about it, even saying I'm
Kevin Dieny:uncomfortable about asking this, but, you know, cause I'm not great in a
Kevin Dieny:social situation, but you know, I'd like to hear more about what you do.
Kevin Dieny:Oh, I've heard of your company.
Kevin Dieny:Can you tell me more about, I haven't heard about your company,
Kevin Dieny:so tell me what you guys do.
Kevin Dieny:That's usually what I do and helps me, uh, cuz I'm not the most outwardly
Kevin Dieny:outgoing social person at an event.
Kevin Dieny:And I like to take my time and figure out, oh, you know, this looks like
Kevin Dieny:a good opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and start having
Kevin Dieny:those networking conversations with people cuz they're brutal.
Kevin Dieny:Right?
Kevin Dieny:So now networking.
Kevin Dieny:I think the biggest reason that it's valuable is that you're building
Kevin Dieny:connections and rapport with people who are not only just in your industry, right?
Kevin Dieny:I'm not saying that they're gonna be customers, but they can be resources.
Kevin Dieny:Also having a conversation with someone validates often what you think,
Kevin Dieny:what you believe it can help you.
Kevin Dieny:I've had lots of conversations at events where people say, this
Kevin Dieny:is how I solve this problem.
Kevin Dieny:When I ask them more about it.
Kevin Dieny:And I realize, wow, that could really help.
Kevin Dieny:Some of 'em may say, Hey, yeah, let's connect after this event.
Kevin Dieny:You know, this is only, these are only supposed to be like brief 15
Kevin Dieny:minute conversations sometimes, which are very, I would say they're not,
Kevin Dieny:not like you're establishing friends for life, but these are work related
Kevin Dieny:connections and networking that maybe you can help them and they can help you.
Kevin Dieny:It's incredible.
Kevin Dieny:The value you can get out of con having a conversation with somebody and.
Kevin Dieny:Seeing, wow.
Kevin Dieny:I, I really helped them or I got a lot out of that too feeling.
Kevin Dieny:Wow.
Kevin Dieny:I feel great.
Kevin Dieny:Like I just talked to someone about this issue and like, those things struggles
Kevin Dieny:that I'm dealing with are real and tough and difficult and they recommended I
Kevin Dieny:try this and I think that's a good idea.
Kevin Dieny:Now at, within both value areas, there's this need.
Kevin Dieny:I think to remember the conversations, remember the
Kevin Dieny:things the speaker said, right.
Kevin Dieny:To sort of have this take notes point.
Kevin Dieny:Now, I don't think you're gonna be talking to someone and taking notes, you know,
Kevin Dieny:from what they said, uh, the, the closest I ever came to that was someone gave me
Kevin Dieny:a bunch of really interesting insights.
Kevin Dieny:And right after I talked to them, I pulled out my notebook and wrote them down.
Kevin Dieny:I don't wanna forget.
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:Or they gave me a website, they say, Hey, can you write this down?
Kevin Dieny:I'll pull out my notebook.
Kevin Dieny:So having a notebook, being able to write your session notes, your networking
Kevin Dieny:notes, anything like that is huge.
Kevin Dieny:I think bringing a notebook, being prepared for an event is a big deal.
Kevin Dieny:And I, and by that, I mean, what do you bring?
Kevin Dieny:How do you, what do you do before an event to make the event more successful?
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:So the things you bring, I think for sure is like a notebook pens, a business card.
Kevin Dieny:I think you also should consider any sort of water or amenities
Kevin Dieny:or packaging, maybe a laptop.
Kevin Dieny:How much do you wanna work at the conference while you're there?
Kevin Dieny:You may want to make sure that you're dressed, you know, in
Kevin Dieny:a professional manner, you may want to look a certain way.
Kevin Dieny:You also may want to be mindful of the type of venue.
Kevin Dieny:The venue is where an event is located.
Kevin Dieny:So if it's in a snowy cold place, if it's in a rainy place, a hot
Kevin Dieny:environment, if it's, you know, I mean, perfectly AC cooled all day, uh,
Kevin Dieny:where if you're staying at the venue, you're staying at a venue, a nearby
Kevin Dieny:place, nearby hotel or something.
Kevin Dieny:All those are are also worth preparing for.
Kevin Dieny:It's kind of uncomfortable to be lugging around a suitcase between sessions or
Kevin Dieny:at an event you kind of wanna be free.
Kevin Dieny:You want your hands free.
Kevin Dieny:You want to be able to talk.
Kevin Dieny:You might, I always bring like a, a bag.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, holds usually my laptop and my notebook and everything else.
Kevin Dieny:I could put it all away, sling it over my shoulder and my hands are free every time.
Kevin Dieny:That's, that's my way of doing it.
Kevin Dieny:There's also a lot of people I've seen who literally bring nothing and they
Kevin Dieny:just soak up everything they learn.
Kevin Dieny:They don't write anything down.
Kevin Dieny:And if that's your style, I mean, maybe that works for you.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, some people Lu between their sessions or the venue and back to their hotel room
Kevin Dieny:to drop off, you know, swag or whatever.
Kevin Dieny:They, they get any sort of.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, notes.
Kevin Dieny:They have, they may want to go back and put it.
Kevin Dieny:I've also seen a lot of times people are at an event, but they're working
Kevin Dieny:every minute that they're there at the event, which is unfortunate, I think,
Kevin Dieny:cause you've flown all this way or you travel this far and you're at this event,
Kevin Dieny:uh, it's difficult to get away, to tear away from work for a little while and
Kevin Dieny:be able to attend an event and soak up.
Kevin Dieny:Knowledge the thing is though even the most extreme events
Kevin Dieny:have breaks and periods.
Kevin Dieny:And I think that's what that that's better time management is to use those
Kevin Dieny:breaks and stuff for, for handling most of the day to day or, or hour to hour
Kevin Dieny:type work when it is an emergency I've seen P I I've even had to bolt out of
Kevin Dieny:a session because of, uh, you know, emergency, but generally speaking,
Kevin Dieny:they they're it's that don't happen.
Kevin Dieny:It's not that hardcore and.
Kevin Dieny:Being able to get away from work even for a little while, like sure.
Kevin Dieny:It's a, it's not really a vacation because you're, you're still in work mode.
Kevin Dieny:You're still making sure.
Kevin Dieny:You're learning and you're, you're improving what your
Kevin Dieny:business is gonna be all about.
Kevin Dieny:You're trying to learn the latest trends and strategies.
Kevin Dieny:And so you, you wanna be able to go to an event and get that value out of
Kevin Dieny:it, if you're planning on going there, but you're gonna work the whole time.
Kevin Dieny:I don't know if you're gonna get the educational side value
Kevin Dieny:out of, you know, attending or even the social networking side.
Kevin Dieny:So how do you get the most outta the education?
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:Okay.
Kevin Dieny:When you're preparing, when you're bringing your notebook, when you're
Kevin Dieny:taking some notes, jotting down, some thoughts, those are really key
Kevin Dieny:preparation things you can do to so that you maximize what you've learned.
Kevin Dieny:Your takeaways.
Kevin Dieny:Someone may say one sentence.
Kevin Dieny:Some speaker may say one sentence and you go, wow, that's gonna change my business.
Kevin Dieny:That one thing they said, they pointed out and you wanna make sure you remember
Kevin Dieny:that what they said, what the context was, you know, if it was a specific number, I
Kevin Dieny:remember hearing someone say, you know, some crazy, like 80%, 90% kind of stat.
Kevin Dieny:And I, and I heard that and went.
Kevin Dieny:That is amazing.
Kevin Dieny:Where did they get that stat from?
Kevin Dieny:And then I wrote it down.
Kevin Dieny:Here's the stat find out where this is from cuz this is, if
Kevin Dieny:this is true, this is a big deal.
Kevin Dieny:Things like that happen.
Kevin Dieny:They're sort of like, wow, earth shattering one sentence, one liners.
Kevin Dieny:that speakers can say that you go, whoa, like that just made
Kevin Dieny:this whole event worthwhile or you meet someone and you go, wow.
Kevin Dieny:I just met.
Kevin Dieny:You know, like a role mall or met someone, who's got these amazing ideas.
Kevin Dieny:This could revolutionize my business.
Kevin Dieny:That's just one connection, right?
Kevin Dieny:It can all boil down to just one single experience that brings
Kevin Dieny:the, that value of the event.
Kevin Dieny:Overshadows your loss of time at work, the cost and expensive getting there.
Kevin Dieny:And also just the inconvenience of, of, you know, going somewhere
Kevin Dieny:totally different or totally new.
Kevin Dieny:Um, that's.
Kevin Dieny:Quickly the value can add up for an in-person event.
Kevin Dieny:So we've talked about prep being prepared, you know, the
Kevin Dieny:preparation, making sure that you've evaluated an event ahead of time.
Kevin Dieny:That's another preparatory thing you can do before you even pay to go.
Kevin Dieny:Some of them, you go, you can go, they have attendance for the events free
Kevin Dieny:either cuz membership or you get a pass or someone wants you to attend.
Kevin Dieny:And so they, you know, get you there.
Kevin Dieny:Um, oftentimes your hotel, your travel, your meals, um, your transportation stuff.
Kevin Dieny:Like that's not.
Kevin Dieny:So I would budget for all those things and make sure you're aware that
Kevin Dieny:intending an event is not just like.
Kevin Dieny:All inclusive.
Kevin Dieny:Some, some, some few handhold, some few like events, few of
Kevin Dieny:them can be all inclusive.
Kevin Dieny:You go, the event pass is the hotel, the transportation, the
Kevin Dieny:meals, the food you're there.
Kevin Dieny:It's like a resort.
Kevin Dieny:Some of them are totally like that.
Kevin Dieny:And for a reason, right.
Kevin Dieny:They want you to not have to think about that and worry about that and make
Kevin Dieny:that part of the experience covered.
Kevin Dieny:The other thing.
Kevin Dieny:More on the networking side is your behavior I haven't seen any
Kevin Dieny:extremely unprofessional stuff happen at an event, but I have seen
Kevin Dieny:some pretty interesting mornings.
Kevin Dieny:So some events have like a nighttime networking get together and I've
Kevin Dieny:seen some pretty wild stuff there.
Kevin Dieny:And I've seen some pretty interesting stuff the day.
Kevin Dieny:Um, people let loose, people want to have fun.
Kevin Dieny:So yes.
Kevin Dieny:Have fun.
Kevin Dieny:Like definitely check out the venue, the area around it, going to an
Kevin Dieny:event should build, be a positive experience for you for work.
Kevin Dieny:And for you personally, like what can you, how can, if you decided
Kevin Dieny:I'm gonna get the most out of this.
Kevin Dieny:You know, personally, what would that be?
Kevin Dieny:You might say, well, I'm gonna eat well while I'm there.
Kevin Dieny:I'm gonna exercise.
Kevin Dieny:I'm gonna, I don't know, visit some sites.
Kevin Dieny:I'm gonna check out the area.
Kevin Dieny:I'm gonna spend some time walking around, outside, whatever it is.
Kevin Dieny:There's some good fun to be had.
Kevin Dieny:And there's actually some fun to be had some times during the night parties,
Kevin Dieny:there are the nightlife of the events.
Kevin Dieny:These are still like potentially future coworkers or colleagues, or
Kevin Dieny:it is, there is a possibility that you could say something political or
Kevin Dieny:something a little off, or you could be, you know, not a hundred percent
Kevin Dieny:there and that could lead to bad things.
Kevin Dieny:So I would say an in-person event raises the risk of there to be.
Kevin Dieny:Odd things that happen, uh, behaviors that are interesting.
Kevin Dieny:So many, you may say, wow, they're a, they're a straight arrow.
Kevin Dieny:When I see them, , you know, online or on webinars or I read about them, but in
Kevin Dieny:person they're just so goofy and so fun.
Kevin Dieny:It's so interesting.
Kevin Dieny:And those are the types of experiences you get in at an in-person event because.
Kevin Dieny:These you're gonna see people who are not always gonna be in work mode.
Kevin Dieny:They're gonna be able to shed that and need to see them on a personal level.
Kevin Dieny:And that sometimes builds a better connection and a better networking
Kevin Dieny:opportunity than anything else.
Kevin Dieny:So a lot of times the people from the vendors will go to some
Kevin Dieny:of these night, uh, activities.
Kevin Dieny:And you get to see them just as people.
Kevin Dieny:And that's really interesting people, vendors, you may have never,
Kevin Dieny:again, you've never met in person.
Kevin Dieny:You get the opportunity to meet in person, which I think is very valuable.
Kevin Dieny:And I think one of the other aspects that I, you know, wanna
Kevin Dieny:talk about is how do you handle.
Kevin Dieny:How do you balance everything?
Kevin Dieny:Right?
Kevin Dieny:So I got, I gotta learn a lot.
Kevin Dieny:I gotta network, but I also have work.
Kevin Dieny:I may need to be doing in between.
Kevin Dieny:I've got logistics traveling around, like this can be, this can feel like a lot.
Kevin Dieny:We're putting a lot on you to get the most value out of an event.
Kevin Dieny:So is it, does it take a lot of work to get a lot out of an event and I'd say no.
Kevin Dieny:You know, you do a lot of preparation beforehand.
Kevin Dieny:Okay.
Kevin Dieny:How am I gonna get there?
Kevin Dieny:What am I gonna do?
Kevin Dieny:Okay.
Kevin Dieny:Plan out some sort of a schedule and make sure everything works out.
Kevin Dieny:Then you don't have to worry about it.
Kevin Dieny:Then when you're there, you just, you know, follow the schedule.
Kevin Dieny:Also, a lot of some events, a lot of events have what are called tracks.
Kevin Dieny:So it's common at bigger events, but a session track is usually
Kevin Dieny:when there's gonna be multiple speakers that speaking at the same.
Kevin Dieny:There are a lot of events that have just one speaker, you know, that
Kevin Dieny:everyone's listening to others.
Kevin Dieny:Types of events may have one speaker sometimes, and then they may have
Kevin Dieny:2, 3, 4, 5 up to 10 speakers.
Kevin Dieny:Sometimes the usually really large events have these multi
Kevin Dieny:speakers at the same time.
Kevin Dieny:And so they say, well, Okay.
Kevin Dieny:Everyone wants to attend all of them, but you can't.
Kevin Dieny:So which one do you, are you, do you wanna attend?
Kevin Dieny:Which one can you pick?
Kevin Dieny:And you want to pick the sessions that again are gonna be relevant.
Kevin Dieny:Look at the speaker, look at the topic.
Kevin Dieny:Look at the description of that event to see, okay.
Kevin Dieny:Is this, is this, you know, interesting to me, is this gonna be worth it?
Kevin Dieny:If you have a pick a four or five, then even then great, you can pick.
Kevin Dieny:Hmm.
Kevin Dieny:Which one seems the best.
Kevin Dieny:And attend the ones that seem the most relevant that seem like the speakers the
Kevin Dieny:best and try to get the most out of it.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, it's maybe ask a few people, well, what are you attending?
Kevin Dieny:It's a great conversation for networking, right?
Kevin Dieny:What sessions are you going to next?
Kevin Dieny:And just ask and you know, that way you can figure out, wow,
Kevin Dieny:they're all going to this one.
Kevin Dieny:And I was gonna go to something different.
Kevin Dieny:Maybe I should change my mind.
Kevin Dieny:Cuz there seems to be something interesting about this speaker or, or
Kevin Dieny:this topic, uh, that happens a lot.
Kevin Dieny:And so for multi-session like track based events, that's
Kevin Dieny:something worth considering.
Kevin Dieny:And so you can usually prepare ahead of time too and figure out what track,
Kevin Dieny:what sessions you're gonna attend.
Kevin Dieny:So you don't have to worry about it when you're at the event, put it this way.
Kevin Dieny:You wanna be thinking of nothing.
Kevin Dieny:Hardcore, nothing stressful.
Kevin Dieny:You wanna just be having a nice, fun time getting as much education
Kevin Dieny:as you can, networking with people and leave everything else as second.
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:Work comes up, stuff like that.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, if you have anything, you learn, put it in your notes, write it down.
Kevin Dieny:So we don't have to try to remember, you know, you want to keep your
Kevin Dieny:mind open to the possibilities opportunities, networking, keep
Kevin Dieny:it sort of free and keep it light.
Kevin Dieny:Um, now if you go to an event you may ask, okay, wait, wait, wait.
Kevin Dieny:They're speakers, their sessions, maybe tracks.
Kevin Dieny:Why do I care about speakers and sessions?
Kevin Dieny:Maybe you're just all about networking, which is, which is definite.
Kevin Dieny:I like, again, networking is probably, and sometimes more valuable than the sessions.
Kevin Dieny:I, I would say me personally, I prefer the networking side
Kevin Dieny:of events to the educational.
Kevin Dieny:Just because I've realized how valuable networking can be.
Kevin Dieny:Um, the other, so to answer that question, right?
Kevin Dieny:Why do I care about the speakers in sessions?
Kevin Dieny:I just go to the event for the networking with vendors.
Kevin Dieny:good question.
Kevin Dieny:So speakers.
Kevin Dieny:Their topics, their what they're trying to speak on and talk about what the
Kevin Dieny:sessions are all focused on, should align with what the event is trying to achieve.
Kevin Dieny:Some events are like, we're all about leads, right?
Kevin Dieny:Some of them are like, we're all about this industry.
Kevin Dieny:So you would expect, okay, this a whole event is framed around this industry,
Kevin Dieny:or, you know, some goal that the sessions are all gonna be about that too.
Kevin Dieny:Hopefully again, the quality of an event may vary that.
Kevin Dieny:Speakers and their topic should be aligned with something that
Kevin Dieny:you should find interesting.
Kevin Dieny:I've heard people say, well, they're not gonna say anything.
Kevin Dieny:I don't already know.
Kevin Dieny:Which is I think a little hubris, maybe a little prideful, because
Kevin Dieny:there's a lot, there's a reason they've been selected as a speaker.
Kevin Dieny:There's a reason that their topic was chosen and that they
Kevin Dieny:have the opportunity to speak.
Kevin Dieny:There's often a lot of times speakers who are so renowned for not just
Kevin Dieny:their speaking ability, but for their knowledge and the ability to grasp like
Kevin Dieny:a needed topic at this point in time, it might be for you like, gosh, I've
Kevin Dieny:heard them say this over and over again.
Kevin Dieny:I.
Kevin Dieny:I know what they're gonna say, but how it's said or what they're gonna say may
Kevin Dieny:not always be exactly what you think.
Kevin Dieny:There might be an interesting new way, new spin on how this is being solved.
Kevin Dieny:And the point of it is to save you the time of figuring it out yourself.
Kevin Dieny:That's it really, this is put a, it as simply as we can.
Kevin Dieny:The educational side of a conference in person educational event.
Kevin Dieny:Is to save you time from learning it yourself.
Kevin Dieny:You know, a topic could be leads and you go, well, I already know how to get leads.
Kevin Dieny:And they go, well, here's some interesting, cool ways to get leads.
Kevin Dieny:We didn't know of that are very effective.
Kevin Dieny:That are cheap, that are efficient.
Kevin Dieny:That will work for a while.
Kevin Dieny:We figured this out, like, this is how you do it.
Kevin Dieny:You may go.
Kevin Dieny:Wow.
Kevin Dieny:Okay.
Kevin Dieny:That is interesting.
Kevin Dieny:I'll give that a try.
Kevin Dieny:And if you think about it, well, what, what would it have taken for me to do all
Kevin Dieny:that myself without having been told all this interesting stuff and it might be
Kevin Dieny:like, well, it might have been six months down the road before I figured that out.
Kevin Dieny:So this just saved you six months of time.
Kevin Dieny:From learning, exploring, figuring that out and then applying it
Kevin Dieny:and then struggling through it.
Kevin Dieny:You just got the quick six months turbo track on learning something that
Kevin Dieny:you wouldn't have learned otherwise.
Kevin Dieny:And how valuable is that, you know, that could be immensely
Kevin Dieny:powerful for your business.
Kevin Dieny:So if you go to an event, you should come back with the education, you should
Kevin Dieny:frame it as like the years of time, it would've taken me to learn this
Kevin Dieny:myself or months or whatever it is.
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:That's how I like to look.
Kevin Dieny:Let's shift the gears toward the networking side.
Kevin Dieny:Again, let's say you're on a networking hour.
Kevin Dieny:Okay.
Kevin Dieny:You have an hour and it's all dedicated to networking.
Kevin Dieny:There's a sea of strange people out there.
Kevin Dieny:, there's a bunch of people you're uncomfortable about walking up to
Kevin Dieny:maybe there's groups, circles, you know, they're already big enough.
Kevin Dieny:There's just lots of people there.
Kevin Dieny:So how do you figure out who you're gonna talk to?
Kevin Dieny:you know, who should you talk to?
Kevin Dieny:Who should you network with?
Kevin Dieny:What should you look for?
Kevin Dieny:That's?
Kevin Dieny:Mm, I wish sometimes in-person events did this better.
Kevin Dieny:There's one event I attended who did this, so well, we filled out a questionnaire
Kevin Dieny:before the in-person event and it said it asked things like, okay, you know, more
Kevin Dieny:specifically, what are your struggles?
Kevin Dieny:What are your problems?
Kevin Dieny:What are you, are you struggling with any of these areas?
Kevin Dieny:How, what kind of clients are you looking for?
Kevin Dieny:Customers?
Kevin Dieny:Are you looking for what size.
Kevin Dieny:And type of customer.
Kevin Dieny:Are you looking for most?
Kevin Dieny:Um, are you, are you having struggles in any of these areas or are you
Kevin Dieny:successful in any of these areas?
Kevin Dieny:And after we filled that out, they used that to group us, right?
Kevin Dieny:The attendees into groups.
Kevin Dieny:When I met the other members of my group during a networking, like a,
Kevin Dieny:sort of a more structured version of a networking activity, we all met as groups.
Kevin Dieny:And in that group, they said, you're in a group of people who are a lot, like
Kevin Dieny:you like a homogenous group of people who are struggling, or they have the
Kevin Dieny:similar, they're a similar company as you, they have similar customers as
Kevin Dieny:you, there's a lot similar about them.
Kevin Dieny:And that's why we put them in groups.
Kevin Dieny:And so we were out of our comfort zones all together in this group.
Kevin Dieny:And it was a great way for us to say, okay, Let's talk about this.
Kevin Dieny:So let's, you know, dive into what, what are we struggling with?
Kevin Dieny:And we all found, yeah, we all had the same kind of problem and it
Kevin Dieny:made the conversation so much better.
Kevin Dieny:I really enjoyed that.
Kevin Dieny:The, I love the unstructured, uh, networking too, but a structured
Kevin Dieny:networking is so good and I love it so much because I'm just not.
Kevin Dieny:I'm not great at being able to look at a person and go, oh yeah, I should talk
Kevin Dieny:to them without knowing anything else.
Kevin Dieny:So that's why it's, I would say it's really difficult to look
Kevin Dieny:into a sea of people and go, I should talk to him, him and her.
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:That's not, that's not usually likely usually end up in a circle.
Kevin Dieny:You start talking and you realize hopefully quickly, this is a group that's
Kevin Dieny:gonna, you know, that's good for me.
Kevin Dieny:Or if not, you go.
Kevin Dieny:You know what I gotta go over here.
Kevin Dieny:and so you try to find a different group.
Kevin Dieny:Um, that's tough.
Kevin Dieny:That's really tough.
Kevin Dieny:So that's why a little bit more structured, uh, types of networking.
Kevin Dieny:I tend to prefer, cause I usually walk away with three or four amazing
Kevin Dieny:connections from a more structured networking type of activity like that.
Kevin Dieny:Let's look at it from a slightly different perspective for a
Kevin Dieny:second, the vendors, right?
Kevin Dieny:Sponsors um, again, we talked earlier about how, like,
Kevin Dieny:it might be necessary evil.
Kevin Dieny:There's still value.
Kevin Dieny:I think from meeting a sponsor or a vendor for the first time in person, aside
Kevin Dieny:from that, why do events have sponsors?
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:So events are expensive, like mentioned virtuals event.
Kevin Dieny:Events can still be costly too, but an in-person event, you have
Kevin Dieny:to, you know, way ahead of time, you have to scope out the venue.
Kevin Dieny:You have to make sure that the conference rooms, the speaking
Kevin Dieny:hall, the vendor areas, everything complies with what you need.
Kevin Dieny:It takes a lot to pull off an event.
Kevin Dieny:I.
Kevin Dieny:I have a ton of respect for that marketer who, who has figured out
Kevin Dieny:how to make an event feel sort of seamless, cuz that is so hard.
Kevin Dieny:Something always goes wrong all the time and it's so difficult.
Kevin Dieny:So that brings up the cost, right?
Kevin Dieny:And they sort of have to pass that cost on to the attendees and they may not make
Kevin Dieny:a huge margin or any margin on an event.
Kevin Dieny:It may be more about bringing people.
Kevin Dieny:But they still need, they still can't be a huge windfall problem of cost.
Kevin Dieny:So how do they recuperate that?
Kevin Dieny:Right?
Kevin Dieny:The attendee they wanna make the attendee rate low.
Kevin Dieny:So that it doesn't feel like only the big boys can show up.
Kevin Dieny:They want companies who they want to help, who are in that position to be helped
Kevin Dieny:the most, to be able to afford to come.
Kevin Dieny:They don't want you to go man, 300 bucks it's too much, or, you know,
Kevin Dieny:$15,000 to attend this event's too much.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, they, they want you to feel like, yeah, this event.
Kevin Dieny:You know the cost.
Kevin Dieny:I understand it, it, it shouldn't fall outside of like
Kevin Dieny:extreme, like comfortable range.
Kevin Dieny:Some of them are much more expensive and it may, may be hard to see why was
Kevin Dieny:this, why is this event so expensive?
Kevin Dieny:Am I really gonna be able to get that much value out of just going
Kevin Dieny:for a few days or whatever it is, but that's why sponsors exist.
Kevin Dieny:Right?
Kevin Dieny:That brings down the cost.
Kevin Dieny:so that you can attend that most more attendees can attend.
Kevin Dieny:There's also a nice balance of ha not having too many attendees that
Kevin Dieny:it's just like a billion PE feels like a billion people are there.
Kevin Dieny:for Salesforce Dreamforce.
Kevin Dieny:They shut down practically all of San Francisco.
Kevin Dieny:When that, when that event hit, kicks off and it's a big.
Kevin Dieny:Big massively attended event.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, it's also not cheap.
Kevin Dieny:Salesforce is just big, right?
Kevin Dieny:So , that's a type of event.
Kevin Dieny:There's just so many people, that's a different field and a more intimate
Kevin Dieny:event where it might be just, you know, 20 people or 15, 10 people a meet up.
Kevin Dieny:It could also be, you know, a few hundred people, but not feel like it
Kevin Dieny:because the way the venue is laid out.
Kevin Dieny:So sponsors are there for a reason.
Kevin Dieny:Is it valuable to sponsor events?
Kevin Dieny:I think so, because.
Kevin Dieny:Your brand recognition at these types of events goes a long way and the
Kevin Dieny:types of in person events that people want to go to, they have respect for.
Kevin Dieny:So I would say that's probably a pretty good opportunity.
Kevin Dieny:Um, novel events are the same, like I just mentioned.
Kevin Dieny:Dreamforce is humongous.
Kevin Dieny:It's mega mega time.
Kevin Dieny:It's like pretty much borderline trade show.
Kevin Dieny:Another thing that changes events drastically is the
Kevin Dieny:venue, the type of venue.
Kevin Dieny:It is other things about it is like how, you know, when they meet, I
Kevin Dieny:know some events that are like only half days because they want you
Kevin Dieny:to get out and explore and have some good personal experiences.
Kevin Dieny:Some of them are hybrid in terms of, in person and virtual.
Kevin Dieny:Like they may have virtual and then in person.
Kevin Dieny:There's a lot of different types of events.
Kevin Dieny:So they're not the same.
Kevin Dieny:Some of them are, are done more seamlessly than others.
Kevin Dieny:And yeah, at the end of the day, I think you gotta, you gotta gotta
Kevin Dieny:figure out like, you know, how am I going to maximize my time and get
Kevin Dieny:the most value out of this event?
Kevin Dieny:And this is just a bunch of stuff for you to kick around.
Kevin Dieny:You can go with other people, you can go alone, you know, there's no problem.
Kevin Dieny:It's not like going to the movies and has this, uh, Like weirdness or going out to
Kevin Dieny:dinner by yourself, has this weirdness or, or feeling, or, you know, it has this idea
Kevin Dieny:that those are only the loaners , uh, at events a lot, or if not, most of people
Kevin Dieny:who are going are alone, there's still lots of times companies will send two
Kevin Dieny:people together or three or four, and there's group rates for events most often.
Kevin Dieny:And they could save that way and everyone, you know, can tend and
Kevin Dieny:some people go into different track sessions and all that's fun is going on.
Kevin Dieny:That's that's good too.
Kevin Dieny:I would say don't let anything keep you from attending otherwise
Kevin Dieny:valuable event because you have some slight hesitation about it.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, take a stab at it until you've had the experience of going and
Kevin Dieny:attending something or going alone or going with a group.
Kevin Dieny:I wouldn't discount that there's still value to, to be had there.
Kevin Dieny:And.
Kevin Dieny:The end of the day, you're gonna have to decide, is it worth it?
Kevin Dieny:Okay.
Kevin Dieny:It's gonna cost me this much for the ticket.
Kevin Dieny:I gotta get the hotel.
Kevin Dieny:It's this much right now, the flight.
Kevin Dieny:Okay.
Kevin Dieny:I'm, you know, leaving my work for a while, leaving my home life
Kevin Dieny:here for a while, whatever it is, maybe it's just a drive every day.
Kevin Dieny:But if it's a flight and a hotel, there's a bit to consider there and you want to
Kevin Dieny:be able to come back with a lot of value.
Kevin Dieny:Now, this is the last thing before we touched.
Kevin Dieny:And in this episode, coming back to the workplace with all these
Kevin Dieny:great ideas and being like, we're gonna implement all these things,
Kevin Dieny:I would say, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Kevin Dieny:Slow it down.
Kevin Dieny:this is the most frustrating thing about attending a very valuable event is
Kevin Dieny:that you come back with these sometimes incredible ideas that could very well help
Kevin Dieny:your company do big moves in a big way.
Kevin Dieny:But when you come back, you have to remember.
Kevin Dieny:remember this company, why they haven't done that already.
Kevin Dieny:Right?
Kevin Dieny:Why haven't they moved or changed things already?
Kevin Dieny:There's a reason that these ideas have the opportunity to help your business
Kevin Dieny:and they haven't already done them.
Kevin Dieny:So take it with a grain of salt that when you come back, not everything
Kevin Dieny:you learned would be implemented.
Kevin Dieny:I can't tell you the amount of times I've heard people go.
Kevin Dieny:The reason I'm not going to this event is they're always so good, so great.
Kevin Dieny:But when I come back, nothing ever changes.
Kevin Dieny:. Gosh, it's frustrating to hear.
Kevin Dieny:Right.
Kevin Dieny:I, I learn all these great things, but I can't apply them, you know,
Kevin Dieny:or, or I brought all these ideas back and none of them were implemented.
Kevin Dieny:I get it.
Kevin Dieny:I understand the struggle.
Kevin Dieny:I see you.
Kevin Dieny:And I validate that that happens.
Kevin Dieny:That happens more often than it.
Kevin Dieny:Doesn't okay.
Kevin Dieny:So when you come back it to be very think very critically,
Kevin Dieny:how actually could this be.
Kevin Dieny:Impacted could this come to realization?
Kevin Dieny:Could I actually change something at my company?
Kevin Dieny:What is the practicalness in that, and that knowing that may take you
Kevin Dieny:back and go, you know what, then I, I don't know if I wanna go to the event.
Kevin Dieny:I don't know if I wanna go to that session or that speaker or, you
Kevin Dieny:know, I may take my notes differently because I I'm only gonna be listening.
Kevin Dieny:I'm only gonna be trying to get the practical, actionable
Kevin Dieny:things I can take away and.
Kevin Dieny:That will I can implement when I give back, if you go to an event
Kevin Dieny:and come back and go, that was all great, but I can't do anything.
Kevin Dieny:then, you know, maybe that event wasn't as valuable as it could have been.
Kevin Dieny:So that's the last thing I'll leave you with is really, really
Kevin Dieny:seriously consider in person events.
Kevin Dieny:They're amazing.
Kevin Dieny:They're valuable.
Kevin Dieny:The value you can get out of attending an in-person event is huge.
Kevin Dieny:Whether it's educational knowledge, trends, strategies, ideas that
Kevin Dieny:could completely revolutionize your business, the networking capability,
Kevin Dieny:being able to connect with, meet other people in your industry, in your
Kevin Dieny:role in the market who are struggling with the same things you are is.
Kevin Dieny:So valuable and that's how you get the most.
Kevin Dieny:That's how you maximize your time at an in person event is preparing for
Kevin Dieny:'em attending them, trying to having that perspective of I'm gonna get the
Kevin Dieny:most that I can out of this talking, I think to sponsors and vendors, you never
Kevin Dieny:know, meet them in person, you know, figure out what you think about them.
Kevin Dieny:And then last of all, when you come back, Are these practical, actionable
Kevin Dieny:takeaways, learnings that you have or connections is, are these practical.
Kevin Dieny:And if they are, then I think you've just opened the door and realize
Kevin Dieny:like me how valuable in person events really are and spread the
Kevin Dieny:word like, I'm doing so thank you.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, I hope you got a lot out of this episode and you have some actionable
Kevin Dieny:takeaways and things you can do, um, that.
Kevin Dieny:You figured out maybe how to figure out what event you wanna attend to next.
Kevin Dieny:I hope there's one coming up that you have in mind or that you've considered.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, if not, you know, hit Google search around.
Kevin Dieny:See if you can find one.
Kevin Dieny:That's interesting to you.
Kevin Dieny:So, uh, again, appreciate you listening.
Kevin Dieny:Uh, this is the Close the Loop podcast.
