Photo via Climate Week NYC
There’s nothing quite like the buzz and energy at an industry event. Thanks to social media, the event isn’t only available for those who are in the room live, but to people around the world who are connected to you on your social media channels. If you decide to share content from the event, it’s an opportunity to build your thought leadership and personal brand while also providing valuable insights to your online community.
Below, I share a few tips on how to best share content (whether you’re an event attendee or speaker), as well as a tidbit about meaningful networking so you can not only meet interesting people, but build relationships.
BE OF SERVICE TO YOUR AUDIENCE
Who is your primary audience? As a general rule of thumb, understanding who your audience is and what their needs are will allow you to create content that will resonate most with them. Don’t make it all about you- make it about what your audience can gain from your learnings. Which brings me to my next point:
SHARE LEARNINGS, NOT ONLY TEACHINGS
As an expert in your field, you might feel the obligation to constantly demonstrate your expertise. But let’s be real, even the most seasoned experts don’t know it all. Attending industry events is the best place to learn from others and be a student. Experts develop their expertise because they are lifelong learners, so sharing your learnings from events (especially for those who aren’t able to attend) is content gold.
Pro-Tip: Don’t forget to quote your learnings and credit the person who shared them. Tagging the speaker you are quoting in your social media post is also a great way to build and make a connection with that person by showing your support.
STAY LOYAL TO YOUR ETHOS AND PURPOSE
There is a lot of brilliant content to learn from at events, but make sure you choose the ones that align most with your brand’s ethos and purpose. For example, you can be a fashion professional attending a panel about Hollywood’s role in climate action, and it will be tempting to share all the big, exciting ideas. But the nuggets that will be most helpful for your target audience is what your industry can learn from another, and how it intersects with your own work.
If you specialize in product design for example, you might share the lessons you learned from filmmakers on how to build a strong narrative for your product, and how that can inform your design process. This allows you to bring your audience on the journey with you. By doing so, you can demonstrate how you’re telling the truest story you can through your own product design.
BE AWARE OF THE COMMON PROBLEMS, AND EXTRACT THE MOST VALUABLE SOLUTIONS
Every professional has a set of challenges they are managing, and it is guaranteed that you are not alone in that challenge. If you are aware of your own common pitfalls, it will be a lot easier for you to understand which solutions are the most valuable to you and your audience. As you attend events and hear lightning bolt moments, capture the solutions that resonate most with you and share them. It’s likely that your audience would find them valuable too!
FOCUS ON TRANSFORMATIVE CONNECTIONS, NOT TRANSACTIONAL ONES
A common mistake I notice about others attending industry events is the goal to talk to as many people as possible. When it comes to networking, what I’ve learned is that it is all about QUALITY not quantity. It is far more impactful to focus on having a few meaningful conversations, rather than trying to speak to everyone in the room.
Don’t make the mistake of focusing on a person’s status, either. Every single person, regardless of what level they are in their career journey, has something incredibly valuable to offer or teach. That intern you’re talking to? They might just be the CEO of their own company one day. It’s best to seed long-term, sustainable relationships (pun intended) through kindness and meaningful exchange, not just short-term gains.
As Maya Angelou famously said, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Invest in the conversations that feel like the most natural and organic connections, and don’t just seek to gain something from someone, but rather, focus on how YOU can add value to them. If a connection doesn’t work out, don’t fret. Trust that you are always aligning with the people that are meant for you and your journey, and the ones that don’t, simply weren’t the right match.