Conferences can be an effective way to learn best practices and to network with colleagues and new people. Being prepared to participate will help you perform.
Several conferences are in the offing that will provide learning and networking opportunities. (See the links below this column.) They can provide great value, but let’s face it – they require an investment of time away from work, registration fees, and travel and living expenses. How can we maximize our experience?
Preparation
Things to do:
Bring lots of business cards.
If conference materials are available in advance, download them onto a tablet, smartphone, or small laptop. Print them out if you’re the type of person who likes to take notes.
If recordings are available, download them for future reference.
If the conference app lists attendees, list the people or organizations you’d like to get to know.
Think about what your organization does particularly well. What could you share with others?
Use your objectives to pick your sessions in advance.
If others are attending from your organization, develop a plan to “divide and conquer” to get the most out of the conference.
Participate
Challenge yourself to get at least one actionable “takeaway” from every session you attend. Even the slowest session will have a golden nugget – I promise you!
If a speaker is particularly good, make every effort to introduce yourself following the session and thank them for their presentation.
Take notes of speakers’ recommendations for books, TED Talks, YouTube videos, etc.
After the session as you’re walking out, ask other attendees what they got out of the session and how they plan to apply their learnings.
Take every opportunity at breaks, meals, and the end of the day to network with others.
Have a process for collecting contact information.
Before you leave the conference, write down a list of things you will (not can) implement when you return to work the next day, the next week, and the next month. It’s too easy to leave with a brain full of interesting ideas with only good intentions to make them become reality.
Perform
If others from your organization attended, schedule a debrief session to compare notes. Identify any helpful themes as well as interesting differences in experiences and/or observations.
Order one or two of the books that engaging speakers recommended. Oh, and read them! Similarly, watch recommended videos and webinars. Check out recommended websites.
Develop action plans to implement your prioritized list of ideas. (See last bullet in the section above.)
Add information to your file of contacts for potential follow up.
Follow up with anyone you promised to provide information.
Complete the conference satisfaction survey, if applicable. Conference coordinators and planners do rely on honest feedback to improve future offerings.
What are some of the ways that you turn an investment in a conference into dividends that pay off for you and your organization?
Speaking of conferences….
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Save the Date!!! Baldrige Fall Conference (pre-conference workshops on October 16) October 17 live in Milwaukee and streamed worldwide!
https://www.baldrigeconference.org
And more upcoming events from the Baldrige Foundation!!!
Intersectionality Between
Quality and Health Equity
April 11, 2023
1:00 PM (ET); 12:00PM (CT); 11:00 AM (MT); 10:00 AM (PT)
There is no equity without quality and no quality without equity. Without the integration of quality standards to health equity, health disparities continue to go unidentified and thus ultimately unaddressed. This webinar will outline how health equity and quality intersect in health care delivery, and how to center an equity lens to provide high-quality care to all patients.
Executive panelists is Joy A. Lewis, MSW, MPH. Joy is Senior Vice President of Health Equity Strategies and Executive Director, Institute for Diversity and Health Equity at the American Hospital Association (AHA).
http://ow.ly/R78x50Nxvqx