Tip 2: Do your pre-conference planning NOW!

We all know that time can get away from us. Business is booming and calendars are packed! I, like many of you, have waited until the last minute to plan my participation at an event, paying additional fees and ending up in a hotel across town. You can avoid any last minute scrambling by taking care of some pre-conference details now.

1. Avoid any confusion when you arrive at the conference by registering now, not to mention you can take advantage of the early-bird savings.
2. Plan to bring other colleagues and/or employees who would greatly benefit from attending the conference. In fact, you can save money with a corporate registration package, good for three people.
3. Make reservations for transportation and hotel early. The Palace Hotel is a San Francisco landmark and we have negotiated a great room rate for our attendees. We fully expect the hotel to sell out of rooms as they have each year in the past so book now to avoid extra travel costs and time if forced to stay at a different hotel.
4. Identify your goals for the conference. What is it that you want to get out of the 3 days? Are there certain people or companies you want to meet or specific knowledge you want to walk away with? Identifying your goals in advance will help you pick specific sessions you won’t want to miss and identify the companies/attendees you want to meet.
5. Familiarize yourself with the sponsors. Take a look at the companies and determine who you want to meet with at the conference.
6. Make sure all the networking activities are on your calendar. When you register you will have options for speed networking, welcome reception and the offsite extravaganza, all of which are, not just signature events, they are a must!

In the coming weeks we will be rolling out our online conference attendee portal where you will be able to request meetings with our sponsors and attendees. If you do the pre-planning now you will be ready to roll when we make this service available and on your way to maximizing your participation at All About the Cloud.

Rhianna Collier is VP for the Software Division at SIIA.