Benefits of Attending a Professional Conference

Almost all professional occupations have conferences. These conferences almost always run for several days and are usually held at hotels or conference centers.

As a professional, your expenses will usually include conference fees, a hotel room, some meals, and transportation. Plus, you will miss several days at work. When you total all of that you may ask yourself, “What will I get as a result of my investment?”

As a Professional Organizer I attended my first conference the very first year that I was in business. It was worth every penny. For most of the years since then I have gone to one or two conferences a year.

My benefits basically fall into two categories.

Education

Especially as a new professional the learning curve was huge. The presenters gave me tons of information to help me work more effectively with my clients and running my business. Over the years as I continued to learn through reading and taking classes, conferences still always had new thoughts and information for me.

Top notch presenters inspire fresh perspectives and offer innovative approaches to my profession. Watching and listening to presenters help with my own presentation skills.

New advancements and updated perspectives as well as ongoing research studies keep me updated and fresh.

Learning also comes during break times when you get some good one-to-one conversations with your peers.

Networking and Socialization

Seeing people in person that I have gotten to know through social media is just a lot of fun. Besides break times there are times before and after the scheduled agenda just to visit and get to know one another better.

Finding out how other organizers run their businesses and how they chose their specialty is also enlightening.  This is especially true when talking with organizers from other cultures.

Finding people that I could refer my clients to because of their specialties further allows me to better serve my clients. And I have developed specialties that others might want to tap into.

Knowing that there are many people around the world that enjoy the work that we do is very important. It’s a great feeling to enlarge your tribe.

Conclusion:

When I go to a conference, I go with some goals in mind. I note who is presenting and chose what sessions I attend accordingly. I take full advantage of the times to mix and mingle and meet new people.

There is so much coming at you in such a very short time it is easy to get information overload. That is why I always plan some time upon my return to go through my notes and make a plan to incorporate all this new information into my business.

I definitely feel that attending conferences keeps my business strong and my involvement active.

If you are working on any specific organizing project and want some tips, encouragement, or accountability join Diane Quintana and me in our Clear Space For You virtual clutter support group. You could complete a small project or set up an organizing plan during the call. The group will offer ideas, support, and gentle accountability for working on developing plans or projects.

Jonda S. Beattie, Professional Organizer and owner of Time Space Organization, and co-owner of Release, Repurpose, Reorganize. She is based in the Metro-Atlanta area. As presenter, award-winning author, as well as a retired special education teacher she uses her listening skills, problem solving skills, knowledge of different learning techniques, ADHD specialty, and paper management skills to help clients.