Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Attend Conferences

I am writing this post at 12:30 am on a flight back to Toronto from London. The three-day Association of Change Management Professionals Europe conference was excellent. Although it is late, I am still on a post-conference high.

My role was to participate on a 'Best Change Management Books' panel and to lead a session called 'Helping Leaders Lead Change'. 

The panel was facilitated by an avid reader and partner of the CMC Partnership, and included a change management book commissioning editor from Kogan Page and a  partner in a firm that had just published a book called 'New Eyes: The Human Side of Change Leadership'. It was a great discussion and I learned a lot about publishing. 

My session went well. There were six other interesting sessions running in parallel so I wasn't sure if anyone would show up. They did and the room was full. 

Presenting to your community is a heightened experience. Given the expert knowledge and experience in the room, you are fortunate if it turns into an engaging dialogue. I didn't anticipate how much dialogue we had and had prepared too much information. The participants will have the extra slides, which hopefully is a bonus to them. 

Thanks to Luc Galoppin

I have not been a role model for investing time to learn. For most of my career, I was always 'too busy' to go to courses or conferences ̶ knowledge only came through experience and reading.

Conferences are essential for personal and business development. Here are my top ten reasons for attending conferences in your field:

• Learn of advancements in your field ̶ e.g., neuroscience is still hot
• Test and expand your perspectives
• Understand what other businesses offer
• Reconnect with friends
• Grow your network
• Reenergize you excitement for your profession
• Take time to reflect, when learning takes hold
• Learn of other conferences that would be good to attend (e.g., Berlin Change Days 2013)
• Realize how much you don't know
• Miss and appreciate your family

My next change management conference is in March. I know I will leave it wiser than I am now.

Phil