If I able to provide you with reasons why you should attend conferences, would you consider them?
The meeting and conferences industry is huge. It generates billions of dollars for entrepreneurs who run event management businesses.
Seminars, workshops, summits and conferences are some of the events you could attend.
Attending a conference comes with many benefits. There is value to your career and your business.
As an event planner, I am always faced with rejection from people who do not understand why they should attend a conference event.
When inviting people to a physical or virtual conference, the one question I get is; why should I attend the conference?
This has got me thinking.
You might also be wondering or have wondered the benefits one gets from attending a local or international conference.
In this article, I will share with you reasons why you should consider attending a conference or a summit.
This is a resource on the role conferences play in academic, professional and business. It includes the benefits you get and how conferences can improve your life.
What is a Conference Event?
While it is great to attend a conference, you might be wondering; what exactly is a conference event?
A conference is an in-person or virtual event where a number of people come together to discuss a particular subject or exchange ideas.
There are several types of conferences, and they can last for one day or can be hosted for several days.
Two years ago, I hosted a 5-day virtual conference for the industry.
Types of Conference Events
Some of the common types of conference events include;
- Academic conferences.
- Professional conferences.
- Business conferences.
Probably you have been invited or have once attended one of above conference events.
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Academic Conferences
If you are in the education sector, then you are aware of the various academic conferences available.
These are events where researchers present their work and findings in a particular field of study.
You will benefit a lot from attending this kind of an event if you are in academia.
This conference allows you to connect, discuss and share information with your peers.
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Professional Conferences
These are the kind of events that bring together people from a particular profession.
For example, you can have marketing conference, finance or banking conference and even a crypto currency conference.
The basic idea is to bring together people who do or practice the same thing. It allows them an opportunity to exchange ideas and share information or knowledge.
If you are a professional, these reasons should make you attend the conference that covers topics within your profession.
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Business Conferences
For business leaders and entrepreneurs, business conference are a great way to engage and interact.
There are many benefits and advantages of attending business conferences.
As a participant, you will be able to meet other people. It is also an opportunity to grow your business through event marketing.
What is the Purpose of a Conference Event?
The main purpose of conference events includes sharing ideas, knowledge and information to a large group of people.
To achieve this, an event in the conference format is create and hosted by an event planner.
Bringing participants or delegates to one central place or venue has many benefits.
That is what a conference seeks to achieve – share ideas and information with many people at once.
When executed well, attending a conference can help you achieve business or professional objectives.
However, you should be clear on result you want to achieve by being part of a conference event in your industry.
Why You Should Attend Conferences
Why do people attend conferences?
Attending a conference event has several benefits. People choose to attend for various reasons which include the following;
- Learn new things
- Networking opportunities
- Share or exchange ideas
- Save on travel costs.
- Generate business leads
- Build a personal brand
- Insights and new ideas
- Meet mentors and influencers
- New products or services
- Challenge yourself
- Look for new job
- Forge new business partnerships
- Get curated ideas
- Attend workshops
- Visit new town or countries
- Personal growth
- To showcase or as an exhibitor
As an event planner, these are some of the reasons people create time and invest in attending conferences.
It is always important to ensure you have defined the goal or objective of participating at a conference meeting.
17 Reasons Why You Should Attend Conferences
While this list is not exhaustive, it provides you with reasons why people attend or participate as delegates at various conferences.
You should attend a business, academic or professional conference to get the following benefits;
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Learn new things
Conferences provide a great platform for you to learn new thing or ideas.
As a delegate, you will listen to various presentations from different speakers.
In most cases, the conference speakers will share new ideas, insights and information about a certain topic.
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Networking opportunities
In life, the person or people you know sometimes are more important than what you know.
That is why networking and making friends is such an important skill you should have.
Conference events are a perfect ground for you to create and bus=ild your network.
A lot of people attend conference because of the networking opportunities such an event provides.
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Share or exchange ideas
One of the reasons you should attend a conference is to share or exchange ideas with other participants.
This is common with academic or business conferences, where you exchange technical information about a subject.
You could even be a speaker or panelist at a professional conference.
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Save on travel costs.
A conference brings together many people from across an industry.
In fact, some conferences have delegates or attendees from various industries.
This allows you to meet many people at a single venue. Without the conference, you probably would have traveled to meet them individually.
For a business or individual keen to achieve more with a small investment, conferences provide the perfect solution.
To save on travel costs, you should plan to attend a conference.
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Generate business leads
For an entrepreneur or business leader, attending a conference is one of the ways to generate business leads.
A business thrives on bringing in new and paying customers.
What a better way to meet prospects than at an event focusing on topics aligned to your business?
Event marketing and in particular conferences play a big role on how a business gets new customers.
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Build a personal brand
Personal branding is an important aspect of your career, professional or business growth.
You should leverage events to position yourself as an authority in your industry.
That is why you should attend conference. You want to be seen within the right and strategic circles.
Becoming a speaker or presenter at a conference has the potential of raising your profile in your industry.
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Insights and new data
Events are one source of insights, data and trending information in your industry.
Therefore, if you want to get such data and insights, it makes sense to attend conferences.
You will have an opportunity to be among the first people to hear about such information.
When combined with an exhibition event, you can be also to also see products or services from various vendors.
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Meet mentors and influencers
If you have ever wanted to meet some of your mentors and influencers, you can do that at events.
Speakers and key leaders within a sector who you might look up to always attend conference.
Your presence at the conference event provides you with an opportunity to meet and interact with them.
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New products or services
One of the reasons you should attend conferences is to have an opportunity to witness unveiling of new products or services.
Some of the top brands use a conference as a platform to showcase or introduce their latest products or services.
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Challenge yourself
Once in a while, you should challenge yourself by trying out new things.
As a profession or business leader, attending conference can help you get out of your comfort zone.
Events such as conference provide you with opportunities for social interaction. If you are an introvert, this is great way to challenge yourself.
The learning facet of a conference event exposes you to new ways of doing things.
It can help you to discover ideas and ways to be more productive.
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Look for new job
A conference is an important platform for you to meet potential employers within your industry.
You can attend the conference and position yourself as a valuable resource to an organization.
As part of networking, you might get an opportunity to meet leaders who could turn out to be your future bosses.
Be strategic and let key people know that you are in the market for a new job.
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Forge new business partnerships
When it comes to business, you will get an opportunity to meet and forge new business relationships.
At conference, major brands and suppliers are usually in attendance.
You can leverage the conference to build new partnerships.
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Get curated ideas
Organizing a conference event is not an easy task. I know this because over the last couple of year, I have been hosting conference events.
One of the benefits of attending conference is that you get curated ideas.
The event planner or organizer ensures that there is flow in the programme.
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Attend workshops
While a major conference is always full of great content, it is the sideline events that sometimes add more value to you.
You should ensure you attend the workshops organized by some of the brands at the conference.
These technical workshops go in deep details to cover the topic or a specific issue.
You can learn a lot and also get a chance to meet other conference delegates at such events.
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Visit new town or countries
I do not know about you, but I do like visiting new places, towns or countries.
While some of the conference events will take place within your town or country, others are held in other locations.
This requires you to travel to a new city or country to attend the conference.
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Personal growth
Attending a conference is one of the ways you can invest in yourself.
This is good for personal growth and development.
Your presence at a conference demonstrates an effort on your part of improve yourself.
This can improve your image and also your resume while providing some credits for some professional bodies.
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To showcase or as an exhibitor
You should also attend a conference to showcase your products or services.
This takes place at conference events where exhibition also happens.
As an exhibitor, you get an opportunity to engage with your customers and also generate business leads. The importance of exhibition events cannot be ignored.
You can also make sales at a conference, or at least secure appointments with key people at the event.
Conclusion
In conclusion, conferences play an important role in various industries.
There are many benefits that conferences bring to attendees, speakers, exhibitors and sponsors.
When it comes to you as a participant, this article has provided you with a list of reasons why you should attend conference.
You could attend academic, professional or even business conferences. It depends on your goals and what you want to achieve at the event.
It is clear that attending a local or international conference creates a great deal of value to your life.
You are going to enhance your professional and personal development.
Attending conferences will provide you tools and skills which can help advance your career or business
I hope you have been able to convince you why you should attend conference.