225. How To Get ROI From A Tech Conference

You can get your dream job, your dream client or your ideal investor at a tech event. But, going to a tech conference can also be a spectacular waste of money.

So how do you get the former and avoid the latter? Listen to this episode to find out.

Timestamps

00:00 Introduction

02:00 Why you should go to conference events

02:59 Conferences are a serious investment 

04:18 Conference ROI rules

08:15 What to do at the conference 

13:18 Conclusion

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Transcript

Sophia Matveeva (00:00.14)
You can get your dream job, your dream client or your ideal investor at a tech event. But going to a tech conference can also be a spectacular waste of money. So how do you get the former and avoid the latter? Listen to this episode to find out.

Sophia Matveeva (00:19.278)
Welcome to the Tech for on Techies podcast. I'm your host, tech entrepreneur, executive coach at Chicago Booth MBA, Sophia Matvei. My aim here is to help you have a great career in the digital age. In a time when even your coffee shop has an app, you simply have to speak tech. On this podcast, I share core technology concepts, help you relate them to business outcomes, and most importantly, share practical advice

on what you can do to become a digital leader today. If you want to have a great career in the digital age, this podcast is for you. Hello smart people. How are you today? I just got back from Jitex and that's the world's largest tech and AI conference, which took place in Dubai last week. And it had 172,000 visitors. Seriously, it was

crowded, was massive and it was overwhelming. And when a conference is like that, it's really easy to kind of just get lost and get overwhelmed and not find it useful. And the Web Summit is also like that as well. But nevertheless, I got lots of value from Jitex and that's why I wanted to make this episode for you. So I actually spoke at Jitex and obviously if you're a speaker at a conference, you get better results than if you're not one.

But the way you get the speaking opportunity in the first place is by building your expertise and your network, which is exactly what you do by going to the tech conference in the first place. Firstly, you should be going to events. So yes, I know that you can get a lot from podcasts. That's why you're listening to this. So thank you. You can get lots from books and courses and webinars. And I certainly do. I do all of these things, but you learn in a different way at events.

You get to hear from speakers you haven't yet heard of. You also learn from the casual conversations that you just have with other attendees. And also if you end up at an event where social media is not allowed or journalists are not allowed, actually you get to hear some really interesting things that you wouldn't hear otherwise. So if you've been sitting at home since the pandemic, then stop it. Get out and get the to a conference or a tech meetup. And yes,

Sophia Matveeva (02:43.188)
even if you are an introvert because you know we have to work, we have to do hard things, we can do hard things. But the thing is conferences can be really expensive and that's the case even if you get a free pass because you need to book travel and you need to book accommodation and you usually end up eating out a lot and if you are actually paying for a ticket then most professional conferences now cost between 2000 and 5000 dollars and then you know travel and so on is on top of that.

It's a serious investment and also it's a serious investment of your time because yes, Joytex was useful, but I came back really tired. So it's an investment on all fronts. If you're going to make this investment, you have to get your ROI strategy right. And that's what I'm going to help you with in today's episode. But before we continue, are you a subscriber to Tech from Techies? If you are, then thank you very much. I appreciate you. I would love a rating and a review.

And if you're not, then Tech Fun on Techies is the place for you to learn how to succeed in the digital age as a non-technical person. So as a business leader, as a lawyer, as a non-technical founder, as an investor, this is for you. Here you can learn how to tell real innovation from tech hype, hear from people who are succeeding in the digital world as non-technical people and demystify weird and annoying tech jargon. So never be intimidated by TechPro again.

So if this sounds good to you, then hit that subscribe button. And now here is my first rule of conference ROI. Make a list of three things you want to get from this particular conference that you're going to. And I'd say don't go overboard, don't write 10, but also don't just have one. So three I found is a good aim. And here are three aims that I like, but obviously choose your own. An important aim is learning.

In our modern world, in the digital age, you have to be a lifelong learner because things change all the time. So learning is a good aim. That's what you hear. So I believe you're probably going to keep that one. The number two, meeting people relevant to your big career goal. So maybe it's people who will give you your dream job. Maybe you want to transition into a career in tech, or maybe you're looking for investors or maybe you're looking for clients. So know what your career or business target is.

Sophia Matveeva (05:09.42)
And then be specific about the people that you want to meet because at a conference, they're all sorts of people and you can just kind of end up wasting your time and having nice meandering conversations that absolutely go nowhere. So know what your target is, whom you want to meet, and also think about what you want them to know about you. So this is not about pitching, it's just about a clever way to introduce yourself. And another aim that I always have is content.

Creating a post about the conference for your LinkedIn is a super good way for you to look like a thought leader in your field. honestly, between us, it's actually not that much work because literally what you need to do is get your phone, take some photos of the event and then write three bullet points about what you heard being discussed. So you don't even have to really think that much. You're literally just writing down three things that you heard other thought leaders say.

And this is super easy to do and it makes you look super knowledgeable about your industry. Honestly, it works. Now let's get to conference ROI commandment number two, that's preparation. To prep for the conference, you should ideally research who's going and then contact them in advance. But honestly, I rarely actually do that because I rarely have the time for that level of preparation. So what do I do instead?

I tell people that I am going and then I see who responds. And this is the super lazy way of doing it. And the lazy way works. So yes, doing all this preliminary research, getting on the conference app, doing all of that. You can do that. But if you don't have the time, then literally tell people that you're going and see who responds and it works. So for example, for Jitex, I literally put up a post on LinkedIn that I'm going.

And yes, I now have a following on LinkedIn, so this helps. And if you don't yet, then you should be working on it because LinkedIn is where opportunities find you. If you don't yet have that LinkedIn following, then literally just tell your network, tell your friends and tell your colleagues that you're going and then ask them if they know anybody who's also going to this particular event. And that's how you build a professional network. And don't think that you need to have like 30 meetings in your calendar schedules. You need to leave lots of time for serendipity.

Sophia Matveeva (07:32.664)
So I would say have two to five people whom you know are going and be in contact with them. So basically you have somebody to meet up with when you were there and that kind of makes it less awkward and less scary. And what I found is that these two to five people will give you tips about the event if they've been there before and then they will introduce you to others. And so just those two to five people in advance can actually really help you get

proper ROI from this conference without writing weird cold emails to people via the conference app. Which honestly, I get so many of those and I really rarely respond. And now let's get to conference ROI commandment three. And that's about what to do when you're there. So when you go to a talk at a conference and you you're probably there to listen to some talks, so go to a talk and then if there is an opportunity to ask a question, then do it.

Asking a question is a really good way to help you get found. So basically, introduce yourself, say what you do and then ask your question. The thing is people want to meet other people at conferences, but everybody feels kind of awkward and they don't know what to say and they try to introduce themselves and it just doesn't work. So basically by asking a question, you are giving people a topic to approach you with. They can literally say,

I found that question really interesting. And this is what I think about it. What do you think about it? It's basically a really simple strategy to introduce yourself to a crowded room and to have people come up to you. And I've done this and I've met so many people this way. Also, when you are at the conference, take notes and write down action items, because even when you're speaking to somebody and you think this is amazing, I'm definitely going to remember it. Trust me, you won't. You'll remember vaguely what you talked about.

And you'll kind of maybe remember vaguely who that person was, but you'll forget their name or the company. So big notes. I literally just use the notes app in my phone. I don't have anything fancy and you don't need anything fancy either. Also, this is important. The first time you go to a particular conference is like the first pancake. It is not going to be the best of the batch, but you have to start somewhere. So see the first time you go to a specific event.

Sophia Matveeva (09:55.808)
as your investment in the future. Because when you return to that event next year, you will get more out of it because basically you'll know the ins and outs of that specific event. So I'll give you an example. When I first went to the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, I literally only knew two people. So remember that minimum two people rule before you go. So I only knew a couple of people. And when I got to the Cannes Lions, I was so overwhelmed because it's massive and it's really glamorous.

And literally all of Cannes, which is one of the luxurious places in the world, is transformed for the Lions. know, big tech companies literally rent out beaches for parties where like Ed Sheeran is doing a private show. So when I got there, I was like a kid in the Cannes store. So what happened was that those two people that I knew introduced me to their contacts. And then those contacts showed me around the event. And then when I got to the Cannes Lions for the second year, I already knew a group of people going.

And then through that group, I actually ended up meeting one of the first investors in my tech startup. And then in subsequent years, I actually met the organizers of the event. And then my startup ended up being one of the CanLion startup innovators, which basically meant free media coverage and lots more opportunities to meet people and deals. But that did not happen the first time I went. So

generally don't expect immediate ROI from going to a conference. The more effort and time you invest in these things, the more you'll get out of them. And your investment compounds over time. But you do have to start somewhere. And now conference rule number four. Follow up. You know, I heard a founder say that the funds are in the follow up. Deals rarely get done at tech events and people rarely get offered jobs at tech events. But deals and jobs.

regularly happen as a result of going to the tech event. So basically when you get home, follow up and build the relationship and don't expect immediate results. It's really tempting to kind of not follow up because when you get back, you're tired, you have lots of things to do, but just schedule some time in your calendar to follow up with people because otherwise, kind of what's the point of meeting them and making the effort in the first place?

Sophia Matveeva (12:19.316)
What I've seen in general that the results will start coming in from about six months onwards. So think of going to conferences as part of your long-term growth strategy. Sometimes things happen immediately, but that's kind of more rare. And finally, when you get home, write out what you learned, not in an essay like this is literally just for you to remember.

I like writing things down in my Evernote app and generally just write down some bullet points so it just solidifies in your memory. And take three of those bullet points and post them as learnings on social media, specifically on your LinkedIn, as I mentioned earlier, and then tag in the people that you met. So that's another way to build your network online and offline. And also remember that's highlighting your expertise as a digital leader. All this stuff is really simple.

And it really does actually work whether you're an employee or a founder. So I've given you this framework and now let's make it real. Let's actually make sure that you use it. If you don't have a tech event in the calendar, then that is task one. Just find an event. Meetup and Eventbrite are really good for this. So just see what's happening over there. And if you fancy a trip to Portugal,

The web summit is an excellent excuse and it's coming up soon. And then after you have booked an event, then let's go to task two, tell people that you're going and find others who are going to, and then arrange to see at least two people at the event. This is not hard. You can do this and it will bring you results, honestly. And then basically go, learn, ask questions and get involved.

And remember when you share what you've learned on LinkedIn, tag me in and then I will share your post to highlight your learnings even further. And this is how we grow together. So my dear smart person, if you found this episode useful, then please leave the show a five star rating and a review. Honestly, your reviews really do help other smart people like you discover my work and to benefit from it. And also they just really light me up. So thank you very much in advance. And now.

Sophia Matveeva (14:37.282)
Have a wonderful day and I shall be back in your delightful smart ears next week. Ciao!