HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF BIG TECH-CONFERENCE?

TIP 1. DO YOUR HOMEWORK

The worst thing one can do is come unprepared. First of all, know your strategic goals. Are you searching for investment? A career shift? Network expansion? Act accordingly. Check every possible guest list, shoutouts on Twitter or whatever you'll find and decide what kind of people you need out there. And do your best in trying to reach out to those people before the event (E-mail, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, whatever works for you) and try to arrange the meeting on the spot. The more advance work you do the more results you get.

TIP 2. DO TRY ATTEND THE TALKS

It's not all of the talks, but also not none of them that should appear on your conference to-do list. Approach the task strategically and attend the talks that correlate with your strategic goal. However, if there's a side-event or networking on your table go for it. You can get the missed content back from somewhere else (articles, video recordings, etc.), but you can't get back the opportunities of meeting new people.

TIP 3. NETWORK AT SIDE EVENTS

Whenever the big conference is happening there are plenty of side events run by brands, other startups, or even regular attendees who gave a shoutout like "Ladies in tech, let's get together for a coffee". Those are your best opportunities to meet people and have more time for a chat being in a small group, rather than in the crowd waiting for their turn to speak to, say, presenter.

TIP 4. PREPARE YOUR PITCH

The main feature that differs a good networking from handing out your business cards is passion. Somehow it's always obvious when the person is passionate about the subject and makes it involving for everyone around. If you're not in search for investment, practice presenting yourself properly, let people know what you do and what are you up to in your professional life. Hopefully, you actually care about the thing that you're pitching. Nobody can help you with that one.

TIP 5. BUT DON'T TRY TOO HARD

Make it simple. There's a misconception that often relates to non-native speakers or people outside Silicon Valley of working harder to get it. So they try to impress English speakers with their vocabulary or professional slang. And it's absolutely doesn't have to be the case. There should be no embellishing or unnecessary complexity. I have to walk out from there and be able to reconstruct what was your thing without missing or misinterpreting half of it. Of course, lines learned by heart kill your pitch. But do search for the fastest way to tell about yourself. Keep it short and listen to what's communicated verbally and non-verbally as you're talking. If your companion is looking for the nearest door, just ask for a contact to continue later and let them go.

TIP 6. STAY HYDRATED AND DON'T FORGET TO EAT

Seriously. You're not going to be productive if you're hungry.