A slow burn
It’s that time of year again. Time for planning meetings, packing suitcases, confirming budgets, negotiating airports and revelling in the delights of international hotels. OK, so ‘revelling’ and ‘delights’ might be a bit strong, but you know what I mean. It’s conference time.
It’s a time when we all spend some time working on our businesses rather than in them. For a few days, the day-to-day detail can take a back seat while we look to the future, try to cement relationships, agree reciprocation rates, discuss mutual services and, hopefully, for those who lift their eyes above their smartphones and appointment diaries for a moment, learn something that will set us up well for the challenges ahead.
It's a time of hope and expectation. What will Las Vegas bring us above the roulette tables, slot machines and neon? Will we be the same when we leave the ‘city that never sleeps’, or will we have been changed forever? Is it possible, perhaps, that we could meet someone that will have a profound affect on our lives? Could we awake, at 4am, with an idea burning in our skulls – one that just cannot, and should not, be denied? Or will we simply return to the treadmill, wearied, worn and with an unjustifiable expense account to explain to someone in the C-Suite? What will it be?
I don’t know. I have never known. Over my career I have experienced it all. I have returned enthused, inspired and energised from conferences and terrorised my staff with the wizard ideas I have gleaned from those wiser than me. I have also come home knackered, missing my family and wondering why on earth I bothered traipsing half the way around the world, spending a king’s ransom for, what appears to be, very little.
But here I speak to the younger members of our congregation and, perhaps more importantly, those who finance them. Conference is a slow burn. There are times when conferences are like a series of light bulbs firing up to show the way to a greater future. Others seem less so. But put together, over a few years, the benefits of attending industry conferences become apparent. When trust is confirmed. When problems evaporate. When customers realise that you are the one that has the know-how - and knows the right people too. When others ask for, and value, your opinion. It’s magic!
If you are there, make the most of it. You can sleep later.