Last month many of my peers attended our industry’s flagship National Education Seminar. The event is hosted by the National Property Management Association (NPMA), a non-profit membership association for professionals who are responsible for the effective and efficient management of equipment, materials, and other moveable and durable assets for their organization.
Established in 1970, NPMA has helped countless professionals maximize their careers. NPMA’s membership consists of employees from federal agencies involved in contracts and their contractor counterparts, property managers from colleges and universities, the health care industry, state and local government, technology and manufacturing firms and supporting consultants. Property managers, also known as asset managers, join from virtually any organization where assets are managed efficiently and cost effectively.
This year’s training opportunity allowed me to meet organization peers I hadn’t seen in person for years, meet new members of our community, ranging from customers, vendors supporting our industry, Defense industry partners, policy makers and several of my agency’s leadership. This experience has proven to be instrumental in understanding some of the challenges and opportunities available as we perform our personal and professional goals. We were afforded the opportunity to hear from distinguished speakers on various developmental topics like:
- Diversity Beyond the Personnel Perspective
- Plant Clearance and the GFP Module
- Managing Risk
- Effective Cross Functional Communication
- Project Planning and Analysis
- And much, much more
Giving Back.
Our members gave back in a big way. Together, members volunteered their time to pack over 50,000 meals to distribute to hungry children in the local community, along with 2,000 books for preschoolers.
Awards.
Industry associations offer great opportunities to build relationships with other professionals in your field of expertise. During the week-long event, members were recognized for their individual and chapter accomplishments and contributions to the profession. I am happy to report our Nutmeg Chapter was recognized as Regional AND National medium Chapter of the Year! Congrats to my fellow Nutmeggers! And on a personal note, I’d like to give a shout-out to my 2023 Outstanding Member of the Year co-recipient, Mr. Aaron Shoop.
Have attended your industry’s educational seminar? Here’s a few tips for a productive conference or seminar attendance:
1 – Start Networking Before The Event
Do you have access to a list of conference participants? Are other professionals from your company attending? Reach out to your peers! This is a great opportunity to meet someone new and collaborate. Networking before the event can help you identify popular sessions or workshops you may not have thought about.
2 – Prioritize Your Preferred Sessions
What is your goal for this training attendance? Review the agenda and highlight the sessions and courses that help you achieve your desired goal. Prioritize those sessions and in the event you have two sessions you want to attend, but they are at conflicting times (two sessions at the same time in different locations), contact the presenters and request access to the presentation after the conference is completed.
3 – Visit Your Must-See Vendors
Don’t wait until the last-minute, visit your must see vendors early into the conference. This will ensure you don’t miss out on information and have the vendor’s undivided attention. In my experience, the later you wait to visit the vendors, the less material they may have available to share and their time is divided between more prospects. The early bird gets the word!
4 – Go Outside Your Comfort Zone, Learn Something NEW
You’re on a conference to learn from and network with your industry. So, what’s the point of taking a session who’s topic you’re very knowledgeable on? While you can certainly join the session and share your unique point of view, consider joining a session you have little experience in and expand your knowledge. Learning something new, as long as it’s related to your industry, can help you think of different solutions to problems or challenges you may not have known you had.
5 – Don’t Multitask
As guilty as you may be for being away from ‘the office’, or as tempted as you may be to take care of work while away from your desk, resist the temptation! If you give 80% of your attention to the conference and 20% to work, you’re missing out on great information and cheating your experience.
6 – Maximize Each Session
Make the best of each session by taking notes of lessons learned, resources shared, attendees and/or presenters, and jot down ways in which the session can help you become more productive at work. Exchange the name, number or business card of a fellow attendee and make a connection.
7 – Network
Which brings us to one of my biggest benefits for conferences. Networking. To me, networking means making a connection with another individual where a mutually beneficial exchange can occur. In other words, make a new friend and give selflessly. I promise you will get more than you receive.
8 – Teach The Newbies, Learn From The Pros
Do you have new employees attending the conference? Teach them the ropes and give the tips you’ve found useful through the years. They may be too shy to come up to you, so contact your training coordinator (or whomever knows the employees attending the conference) and avail yourself to the newbies. Are you the newbie? Ask if senior or experienced team members are attending and pick their brain.
9 – Get Organized
Decide how you’re going to take class notes. Write on the handouts, type on your tablet, jot notes on a notepad? Jot down ideas you’d like to share with others, or topics you’d like to explore in more detail.
Take notes for each connection made by writing on the back of the business card. “Angel, NPMA Nutmeg Chapter, Giants Fan, met at Auditing Course.”
10 – Share Your Lessons Learned
Now that the conference is completed and you’ve taken actionable tips and suggestions, you’ve made points of contacts, it’s time to spread the news! I suggest putting together a presentation or summary of the sessions attended, lessons learned, tips and suggestions shared, and spreading the information throughout your department and coworkers.
Check out my complete Tips for a Productive Conference Attendance article for even more in-depth insight on the recommendations above.
How about you, do you have any tips to add? I’d love to hear about them! Comment below to keep the conversation going. ⬇️
