Going to a conference? Awesome! What do you want out of it? Networking? Meeting agents? Editors? Pitching? Skill building? Meeting writers? Published writers? Mentors?
Time to set some goals!
Christie, my GOB blog partner, and I are both attending Thrillerfest in NYC next week. This is only my second writing conference, but after attending Sleuthfest in February, I was excited to register for my next one.
When I attended Sleuthfest, I was a bit overwhelmed. There were more opportunities than time would allow. Even though I knew what my main objectives were, it was easy to get distracted. Setting goals before a conference is a great way to get the most out of the experience, especially for newbies.
The SMART method is considered the go-to for goal setting. Goals should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
Ask yourself why you’re going to conference and what you most want out of the experience. Then, make sure your goals are SMART:
Specific. Networking is readily available at conferences, but ask yourself what kind of networking do you want to do. Looking at the list of presenters and attendees and doing some research in advance will help you identify when you want to focus your efforts.
Measurable. How many other authors, agents, or editors do you want not only meet, but develop a relationship with? Are there other writers you’ve previously met who are attending and with whom you’d like to connect? Make a list.
Achievable. Are there more than one session at a time you want to attend? Meet someone planning to attend one of them and agree to share notes and handouts..
Relevant. Plan in advance. Look at the sessions and the presenters and choose what sessions will be most relevant for you. It’s easy to put this off and feel overwhelmed as you’re quickly trying to decide what sessions to attend.
Time-bound. By its very nature, a conference is time-bound. Set some follow-up goals for the days after the conference. For example, if your goal was to network, or meet mentor authors, follow up within three days of getting home. Or, within the three days following the conference, write thank you notes to presenters with whom you want to connect.
I’ve been asking myself want I out of my Thrillerfest experience and how I want to feel on my way back to SD. Right now, the answers are too many and not specific. I’m going to put pen to paper and specify some SMART goals.
Comments are closed.