To our Raymond James clients, are you going to NCPD 2016? What’s your plan? Likely to attend dozens of sessions, meet tons of people and take home a lot of ideas, more content than you will ever use, new friends and unforgettable memories.
You probably have a short list of things to do, people to see and sessions to attend but if not, here are 12 tips to ELEVATE your conference experience.
Pregame: Before You Go
- Be prepared – be prepared – be prepared! It’s worth repeating, as it is the easiest way to waste your time during the conference, if you go without sitting down and formulating a plan first.
- Review the agenda – this is a no-brainer. Set a goal for what you want to learn and use the agenda to tailor a plan around those objectives. Consider both speaker and subject matter.
- Get the lay of the land – The Gaylord is a monster resort so get your map, get the app and find the rooms and locations you need to be prior to the sessions.
- Find out who is going. There is no better time to network with your peers. Reach out ahead of time to make a plan to connect.
- Set your Out of Office reply letting your clients know you are attending the conference for professional development and delayed in your response time.
- Bring the right gear – Laptop, iPad, Chargers, Business Cards, Smart Phone
Once You’re There
- You’re in Nashville… Now what? It’s a whirlwind of activity, you have your game plan and now it is time to hit the ground running.
- Register early – Don’t get stuck in the line so you can maximize your time learning and meeting people.
- Divide and conquer – If you are attending with multiple people from your office make sure you are splitting up for different sessions. Plan meals as your time to regroup.
- Connect with your peers and beyond. This is a great opportunity to pick the brains of your peers, vendors, mutual fund firms, home office and practice management specialist.
- Participate in the larger conversation. During the event make sure you use social media to post ideas, memorable moments and stay connected to your team back home. Here are dedicated hashtags and pages to remember – #RJNCPD, @IronstoneHQ, @RaymondJames, @AndreaSchlapia, Facebook
- Stay organized. Between sessions, strike while the iron is hot. Write on the back of business cards to remind yourself of the conversation, digitally capture the cards and take note in the conference app. Include details that will jog your memory a week after the conference.
Postgame: Back at Home
- Take some time to decompress but don’t wait too long to keep things fresh in your mind.
- Do a little housekeeping. With all the resources you brought home from the conference, organize and clean up the hasty collection of information.
- Teach the team – the insight you gained is all for not without sharing the information. Set aside time to review the content, prioritize what is most critical to least critical and set a game plan for implementation with quarterly milestone objectives.
We’re looking forward to seeing you at the 2016 RJFS Elevate National Conference for Professional Development!
