Pre-Event Planning: Setting Writers’ Conference Goals
Award-winning author and podcaster Debra Eckerling provides pre-event planning tips for setting writers’ conference goals at future events.
Conferences are an essential part of any writer’s professional development. You can meet agents, editors, resources, potential collaborators, and author friends. You can learn about craft, publishing, marketing, platform-building, and the business of writing.
While you will likely leave inspired, energized, and overflowing with ideas, you may also return home feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, and wondering where the last few days went.
Conferences go by fast—especially the good ones. You may leave with a ton of business cards and lots of notes. Chances are, however, they will get pushed aside while you catch up from being gone for a few days, never to be looked at again. And that is not okay.
Here’s the thing about conferences: You can’t meet everyone, you can’t learn everything, and you definitely cannot do all the things. Yet, you can make meaningful connections, learn valuable information, and create opportunities that continue long after the conference ends.
Set Conference Goals
In the weeks leading up to a conference, if you haven’t done so already, set goals for networking and knowledge.
- Who do you need to meet (essential people for the next step of your author journey), who do you want to meet (a dream speaker), who would be nice to meet (author friends/accountability partners)?
- What do you need to learn (art or craft of writing), what do you want to learn (a fun bonus skill, perhaps related to platform building), what would be nice to learn (related to a side or future project)?
Next, instead of framing these as goals, look at them as future wins. What 10 wins—5 networking, 5 educational—do you plan to achieve?
Possible Networking Wins:
- Meet X number of agents
- Meet X number of publishers
- Meet “big name” and invite him/her to be a guest on your podcast
- Meet a web designer/editor/event organizer
- Make at least one new friend in the audience at each session
Possible Educational Wins; Learn About:
- Structure
- Dialogue
- Queries
- Comp titles
- Author platform
Make a Plan
Look at the conference schedule and note the networking opportunities. This is the kind of access you only get at in-person events, so make them a priority. Make your list of “must meets” based on speakers on the schedule, conference sponsors, and the titles of your ideal new connections.
Now, go through the sessions. Most conferences have multi tracks, so prioritize the sessions by dividing them into categories: must attend, interesting topic, and backup options. When making your schedule, build in breaks for downtime and conversations. Some of the most valuable conference moments happen in hallways, coffee lines, and casual chats before and after sessions.
Create Action Items
During the conference, you will meet a lot of people and receive a lot of information. Come up with a strategy to make sure you follow up and follow through.
After you make a new contact:
- Make a note if they are an A, B, or C connection. A is new BFF, B is nice vibe with potential, C is everyone else, as long as they are not a red flag.
- Make notes of things that are memorable about them or how/where/when you met during the conference; this is important for you and them to have a frame of reference
- Follow everyone on social media. Connect with the As right away - on LinkedIn and/or via email, connect with Bs within a week, and Cs within a month.
During and after each session:
- Don’t take notes on everything, just mark the highlights
- From the highlights, mark 3 to 5 takeaways
- Create 3 action items to go with each takeaway
- Prioritize which session takeaways you will implement first
- Schedule time in your calendar—at least a weekly appointment post conference—to put the things you learned into action.
Also:
- At the beginning of each day, take a look at your list of goals/future wins.
- At the end of each day, make a list of your networking and knowledge wins.
- At the end of the conference, compare the list to the goals you set.
- Celebrate all of the wins! Your commitment to yourself and getting the most out of the conference is a big deal. Good for you!
Remember
Before your next writers' conference, schedule prep time, set goals, and make a plan. You will show up ready to connect, learn, and grow … and inevitably get the most value out of the conference.
