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Getting the most for your show dollar
Top 10 hints for successfully attending trade shows, conferences and training sessions:
Look for opportunities that will result in cost savings or better practices. Find them, and it's more likely that you'll get to go to another conference.
Write reports on the conference to share with others in your office.
When available, use daily on-line conference summaries or conference tapes to fill in the gaps.
Some of the most important learning is informal, so network. (A conference is definitely a place where it's OK to talk to strangers.)
Review your notes at the end of each day and focus on what you learned and didn't learn. You may need to follow up on something the next day.
If you're going with people who work for you, help them find their way. Schedule demos that will challenge them, and introduce them to colleagues.
Attend media-related conferences outside the newspaper industry.
Use proximity to advantage. If a conference is scheduled nearby, attending may give you a big bang for a few bucks.
Don't overlook user groups -- they provide opportunities for training and networking.
Remember that in the competitive media arena, not going to the right conferences may ultimately cost your newspaper more than the price of an airline ticket, conference fee, lodging and meals.
-- L.C.C.
Also see Glut of shows and conferences makes travel decisions tough.
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