Professional conferences can be a great opportunity to meet people in your industry who you admire - especially if, like me, your profession is also something you personally geek out over. One of the many fantastic social media leaders I met at Social Media Marketing World is Brian "iSocialFanz" Fanzo. Brian's expertise ranges from tech to livestreaming to public speaking and all sorts of topics in between, but today we spoke about something highly relevant as we head into fall conference season: how to get the most out of those experiences.
Some of Brian's best tips include:
- Start following (and participating in) the conference hashtag long before the conference; become an integral part of that conversation before the event even starts
- When interacting with the bigwigs you're excited to see (either before or after), don't just put out a generic, "Excited to hear your talk!" - share their work, offer value to them, and have something to actually say to them with some meaning and context
- One great way to get on conference organizers' radars (and good sides!) is to give their sponsors some love!
These, and way more fantastic tips, are all in our conversation below. Thanks again, Brian - see you at #SMMW18!