How to Master Business Conventions 
A convention can be one of two things: a great opportunity to network and expand your business opportunities, or it can be a huge waste of your time. To make sure that the next convention that you attend yields the former result, we are going to provide you with seven tips to make the most out of it.
1. Don't forget about the people who you already know
While attending a convention, you can become so engrossed with expanding your network with new people that you can forget about those who are already in your network. Although you should be trying to foster new relationships, this is also a great time to enhance current ones. As the old saying goes, you never know who will be in a position to help you!
2. Use technology to get a jump start on introductions
In most cases, it is easy to find out who is attending a convention. A decade ago, if you started phoning attendees out of the blue, they might not take this invasive action well -- how did you get their number anyway? Fortunately, modern technology has made making preemptive introductions easy. Once you find out who is going, use social networks to reach out to them. This makes connecting with people much easier, as they are more comfortable around those who they have built a relationship with on some level.
3. NO aggressive marketing
When you are at the convention, do not forget to remind yourself that this is not the time to walk around telling people how great you, your business or your product are. This tends to rub people the wrong way. Besides, you can only find out what people can do for you by listening to them speak.
4. Stick around for everything
From the time the convention starts, you should be hitting every seminar, workshop and event that you planned on. Even the cocktail parties can be a great time to build your business relationships. The only times that this rule will not apply are when you have the opportunity to engage persons of interest in a less crowded setting, i.e., coffee with the keynote speaker or an important industry leader.
5. Be prepared to cut conversations short
This may seem counterintuitive, but if it becomes clear that you and the person whom you are speaking with will likely never be able to help each other, politely excuse yourself and find someone else to talk to. Remember, although you are there to meet people, convention time is not social time; treat every moment there as if you are on the clock.
6. Plan your session schedule before you arrive
Most conferences are so stuffed full of interesting workshops that it is impossible to see them all. By reviewing who is speaking when -- and planning accordingly -- in advance, you are ensuring that you will get the most out of all of the workshops.
7. Develop an action plan as you go
Every time that you meet a new person of interest, do not simply exchange business cards; if you hear a concept at a workshop that you simply must take advantage of, do not simply scribble notes about it in your notebook that will be lost later. Every time something like this happens, you should be developing an action plan to follow up. For example, you could say that you will call Jane Doe on this date as a follow up, or you could say that you will apply the new concept that you learned to a specific situation on your next day in the office.
