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Marketing & Innovation

Plan Your Calendar: Just because you’re not trav- self energized, try to vary activities – so schedule
eling physically, that doesn’t mean you mentally get networking or “virtual coffee appointments” in
to check out. People attend trade shows to partici- between sessions where you’re listening for long
pate in live sessions, make appointments, network, periods.
and look for new potential partners on the trade
show floor. Make sure you block out time for each Consider attending with colleagues to boost your
of these goals. Tell your co-workers and family that social engagement during the conference. You
you are unavailable during these times. can accomplish this by communicating with each
other between sessions or schedule a meeting
When you build your schedule, pay attention to afterward to share key takeaways and discuss how
live versus recorded sessions. If your day gets full, what you’ve learned might impact your work. You
save the recorded segments for later times and can also chat with people with Microsoft Teams or
dates. Slack during presentations. But be careful you don’t
have too many channels going simultaneously,
Virtual conferences aren’t just for learning – net- which will distract rather than focus your attention.
working is possible even through a computer. Set
up appointments before the event with colleagues. DURING THE CONFERENCE
Attend happy hours or breakout sessions with
other attendees. And don’t forget to give yourself Accessing Booths and Exhibits: When you reg-
some open time to browse content other attendees ister, you’ll create an account with a secure user-
bring. name and password. At a later date, the confer-
ence should send you an invitation email containing
Build-in Breaks: One thing you would do naturally a unique link to the virtual trade show. When the
is sit down and have a cup of coffee or grab lunch time comes for the event to begin, click the link
when you’re attending a trade show. Don’t forget and sign in.
to build these in for your virtual tradeshow. These
are your responsibility to include and are essential The conference should greet you with a welcome
to allow you your brain to change pace to context page, which may appear like you entered an actu-
shift from one activity to another. To keep your- al lobby with people conversing and meeting. It

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