Why I almost did not go to the conference

I decided to sit down and critically rethink a familiar concept, as the "Conference". Understand for yourself whether I need to go there as a speaker or as a listener. My thoughts I set out below and will be grateful for your opinion, whatever it may be polar.

Speaking for myself, I spoke to a very different conferences. On a large conference SMM my report was recognized as the second among all, and once in front of me was the audience in 4000 people. Barcamp, trainings, courses, corporate presentations, advertising sales and agency services to clients - through is precisely the hundreds. But now more than a year, I think I do not want to speak in front of a mass audience, and very meticulously come to any attempt to tighten yourself in a particular conference. And that's why…

1. The myth of networking. People selling conference, often say that networking is a must. What exactly conferences you are in contact with the maximum amount of people. Find partners and investors. I do not agree with this. None of the partner of their current and past businesses I have not found at conferences. There were a lot of conversations and laughter rainbow, bags cards and hundreds of handshakes. But then - nothing. That is, there are any correspondence, meetings, yes, but why buy something completely different people (see below). Networking at conferences reminds me water skiing, you call for the study of sea mistake: you touch hundreds of thousands of waves, but the knowledge of the sea have not added. Although you think you know all about the sea, on which slide.

Here's another fact: most of the really steep investors do not come to the conference with badges startaperskie Investor. On the contrary, they are recorded as Visitor and prefer to "skiing" "snorkelling", and maybe "diving" in the subject and projects, choosing their own with whom they communicate.

2. Conference - is the knowledge of the original source. Another popular myth of the creators of the conference. Do you really believe that the permanent guest performers at the conferences, which have learned to pour a perfect scene with water, want something to teach you? The same people, the same theme, the same jokes. For myself, I knew that was going on in the mentality of Ivan the Fool, who was sitting on the stove, and she brought it where you want. He does not do anything, just sit on a chair at the end of the day already knows everything! :) I do not believe in this. If I need to understand how the Bitcoin, I go to Google. If I need to understand how the metrics trekat email-marketing, I go to the MailChimp blog. If I'm interested in the monetization of YouTube-video, I go to Moz and other sites. You read, apply, analyze, read on - you get the result. Author Level steep steep site is much steeper than anything you can hear on any conference! Why pay and wait for someone to get hold of all of you?

3. Understand before attending the conference who you are - "sheep" or "shepherd". This is a consequence n. 2. Do not deceive yourself that you're hunting for knowledge, while the hunter stage and hunts for your budget, or attention. If you do not have a clear understanding of who and how you sell an idea, service or product, then do not go to the conference. Otherwise you postrigut before you come to Chekin.

And the story... I once spoke at the conference "networkers" (network marketing, MLM). My topic was social networking. I was paid for the performance fee, and I knew why I was going. I thought I knew what I was - a shepherd. I was well prepared. I always prepare myself for 2-3 days to any performance, and here, too, tried. When I finished my half-hour speech, it was applause. Middle-aged people started coming up to me, thanks for your statement, and yet, strangely, took pictures with me. It took half an hour, and I just smiled, shook hands and thought about the fee :)

Behind me came the next speaker, and he made the best of me. Emotions, laughter, exits the room - it was cool. And then he made a strange, as I then thought. He finished the performance in the middle of the idea and did what is called "the sales." He said something like: "Just talk for half an hour is impossible, so you can learn more on my webinar on disk! Total 2995 p. instead of the regular price - 5700 p.! But only for half an hour after my speech! "

Of the 800 people audience a couple of hundred people bought his CDs. For cash. Right. Then there was the photo and Ruchkanov. And I realized that the cub was toothless, he - the wolf and the shepherd, and the people in the hall -... th-th-th, just had fun and generously paid for a couple of hours of his life. Fair to say that the guru had told me then that most of these people have homes racks doroguschih these discs that they never even unpacked.

4. Conferences such as the quality greatly decreased. Seen this legendary photo?

She Albert Einstein, Marie Curie, Max Planck, Niels Bohr, Erwin Schrödinger, Auguste Piccard and others. This conference equal to exchange knowledge. They do this in the real world only because almost uncomfortable, but the phone - it's hard. Today, first-class channels of information is so great that buying mediocre at conferences simply not cost-effective.

A friend of mine, Conference Organizer, advised me on the subject of the economic feasibility of this activity. He lamented the fact that to make the conference only for the purpose of earning very hard. When I asked him about the gorgeous food on the tables and suggested that the economy would be "interesting" without cakes, steaks, rare fruit, water and coffee, I heard an amazing answer: "Because no one did not come! ". Journalists furshetniki, corporate truant work, students make up a large stratum of those who distract you at conferences. They are diluted minds, but to create a mass. Part of your payment - a lobster claw in the human mouth, who wrote the article, viewed from the force of a hundred stray readers of his rag.

5. "Expert" experts should be checked to you! Ashamed to tell, but once at a conference in Russia, I was dragged to the round table, as the lost one of the talkers. Theme I found at the time when he sat down on the sofa! I knew about the subject of conversation, but had never worked with a discussion of the product. For some reason I had to say the most. After the round table - the applause and positive feedback from the audience. I just know how to switch my attention to comfortable topics. But people went to another and nothing on the topic of the round table did not recognize. More on these events, I do not go, because the thought of all those round tables, where I was a student, and laughed for half an hour. The matrix was revealed to me, and it became clear how "deep" were immersed in the topic of my predecessors :)

What to do?

My son, 7 years old, painted just such a picture, simply swiping on YouTube 2:00.

Before that, he did not do anything like that - so stick-stick-ogurechek. There he learns to collect the robots from the Hero Factory and LEGO.

And yet, after watching movies about robots MindStorm, I think that we need to spend $ 500 on this constructor and He can easily assemble the robot to help mom in the kitchen :) No courses, personal instruction and conferences.

Now ask yourself the question: how much Coursera courses or other you have gone? We do a lot about it write. What's stopping you? You work out for 2 days and decided that you need someone who will take over your patronage? You would think that we need a teacher? Why do not you know how to program for iOS or Android? Waiting for the case to enroll in any courses? What for? There are also courses at Stanford and Berkeley, there is a tutorial on Swift at last!

Start learning programming for iOS for free book on Swift language from Apple https://t.co/hVi11fAy2R#ru_lhpic.twitter.com/JJGIGJDQrM

- Lee Mohamed (@ mohammedlee56) June 5, 2014

And if you have a website or blog, then what kind of marketing training you need, if you have not figured out with Google Analytics reports? You dried trafikogeneratsii all channels for your project that are going on SEO courses? On the other channels is all OK? Understood? :)

That's me all to the fact that it is time to remove water skiing and scuba wear. Find an experienced email-marketing, and you'll learn that only in this channel it sells more than 5 times than you with all your social networks, Twitter and other channels. All channels are good, do not misunderstand me, but just sort out one thing - books, blogs, mailing lists, experts to help you. When there will be nothing that you do not know - go to a conference, and check your knowledge.

Do not look for an excuse for self-education. There are some tricks in real life. For example, young wine Beaujolais Nouveau festival, strawberry festival or street food festival - it's just an excuse sell you so-so wine, plastic hydroponic berry or sandwiches that you can have on... street. No need to pay for the conference considered a reason to start learning. To train an excuse not needed. I do not need it for drinking and young wine or eating a strawberry. And remember one more proven truth. Personal meetings - always the bestThat can give you the man you are interested in. They are people openly, liberated and talk very sensible things. And no need to advance "to know that you will be denied." Most people are willing to accept an invitation to dinner with them, but only on condition that you have thought through the logistics and find yourself in the agreed location at the agreed time. Without delay, without delay, tuned to constructive conversation.

When to go to the conference?

1. Only if you are significantly You know who it is and what you sell to these people.
2. Only if you are prepared, Believe in yourself and the object of your pursuit is aware of what you catch him at the conference.
3. If your the employer will pay for your conference and visit themAnd still retain the RFP on these days. Then be sure to Ride all conferences around the world - is the best way to see the world and broaden my horizons, without paying a penny!