An Introvert’s Guide to Attending Conferences

Welcome to The Modern Editor Podcast, where we talk about all things editing and what it’s like to run an editorial business in today’s world. I’m your host, Tara Whitaker. Let’s get to it.

Hello! Welcome to today’s episode. This episode popped up for me because I am prepping to attend a virtual conference here in a few weeks, and I thought it’d be a great time to share some of the things I do to prep and plan for a conference as an introvert.

Because we can face different things when attending conferences, both in-person and virtual. And I’m an introvert and not all, but a lot of editors are, and I strongly believe there’s nothing quote, wrong or bad about being an introvert. We simply just need to know and plan for how we interact with and rest from the world.

And that especially holds true for conferences since we’re modern editors, right? And we’re always learning and growing. So we’re going to be putting ourselves in these situations where we might need to figure out how to navigate different events. So we’re going to chat about some of the ways I’ve learned to manage my energy when attending conferences of any kind.

And then before we dive in, I just want to make sure that I share the lens through which I’m sharing all of this with you. I’m coming at you from an introvert perspective, but I am also neurotypical, to my knowledge. So please keep that in mind. These tips might not work for everyone. As always with any of my podcast episodes or anything that I say, please take what works for you and leave or tweak the rest.

There’s also a lot of different conference formats, right? Virtual and in-person, sure, but then all different sorts within those types of formats. So when I was thinking about this, I’m prepping for the Women in Publishing Summit, which is a virtual conference. It’s in March 2025, which I’ll have more info on later. So the things I’m talking about are a little bit virtual conference–heavy, but like I said, you can tweak these things for any kind of event.

All right, let’s dive in. So first tip, maybe one, these are all important, but I might say this is probably the most important, is to be sure to set aside time before, during, and after the conference to recharge.

I cannot stress this enough as an introvert. We need time to recharge or we will burn out so stinking fast. And, if it’s a multiday conference and we burn ourselves out the first day, we’re not in a good position for the rest of the conference, right? And I know there’s always a mad dash to finish our work before we go out of office, right? Either it’s a vacation or a conference or what have you.

But if at all possible, try to leave a little buffer between completing projects and attending the conference to recharge. It’s also a good time to plan for what you want the conference to look like for you, which we’re going to get into in a little bit, but that before time, I think a lot of people forget about that just because we’re trying to get ready.

We’re hustling to get everything done. And we’re like, the last thing we are going to think about is, Oh, I need to take a break before the conference. I’m telling you from experience, if you can do it, it makes a huge difference. It doesn’t have to be ten days before the conference. A day is lovely. Anything is lovely. Small is better than nothing.

And then during, for me personally, in-person conferences take a lot more energy out of me, but I am very surprised at how much virtual conferences take out of me too. Mostly because, yes, you do still have to be on, but I think a lot of us tend to try and pack too much into our days during a virtual conference because there’s so much usually planned to accommodate different people, accommodate different time zones, and so we think, Oh I have to be up at the crack of dawn through midnight because I want to make sure I take advantage of everything, and that’s not the way to go either.

Taking breaks during the conference is a big plus, and that can look different for all of us, right? It can be skipping a session block and taking a nap, or maybe you go for a walk or whatever it is you do to rest and recharge. It is okay to do that. I know we get FOMO and I know we want to get the most out of our money, but I’m going to give you some tips for that here in a second on how we can still maximize that.

And then after the conference, trying to set aside time to rest and recharge and process everything you’ve learned. Try not to dive right back into work, if possible. I know that’s not always possible. We live in the real world, but I’ve got some tips here in a bit on following up postconference, but taking a break after is huge.

For example, for the Women in Publishing Summit, it is four full days of virtual conference, and I’m on a panel on the last day, which is a Saturday. Weekends are hard for me, too, because I have small kids who are home, right? Knowing that, I blocked out that following Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in my calendar.

I don’t have to people, unless I want to. My calendar is blocked. Nobody can book any dates with me. I will probably have FEC coworking during that time, but that’s my choice, and it’s coworking, so it’s not a ton of peopling, plus it’s FEC and I love everyone in FEC. But I have control of my schedule and my calendar after the conference, right?

I do all the time, but especially those days after the conference, because I finish Saturday, Sunday is going to be family and kid stuff because it’s a Sunday and it’s the weekend. I am not going to have the brain capacity to do anything I need to do. So I’m going to do that Monday through Wednesday when the kids are at school and daycare.

I realize everyone’s situation is different with that, with kids and family and other obligations and responsibilities, but again, tweak it for what works for you, but try to take a break after the conference.

All right, number two, which goes pretty close to number one, is to prioritize what’s important to you for the conference ahead of time.

If it’s a bigger conference, chances are you’re gonna have a lot of choices on what to attend, so checking out the schedule ahead of time, which, usually conferences have that out pretty well in advance, and you can go through and pick out the sessions and events that you definitely don’t want to miss.

Like they are high priority, and you can go as specific or general as you want. If it’s virtual, I like to know when everything is and I don’t want to attend sessions that are too similar back to back. If it’s in person, I’m gonna be honest here, I’m gonna be a little slightly vulnerable here, I’m the type of person that has to actually see that the room exists and how to get there and where to go.

If I go to the airport, I have to go and check to make sure that my gate actually exists, because maybe it doesn’t. And then once I lay eyes on it, then I can go get my coffee and go to the bookstore.

So it’s the same for me with a virtual conference, too. And remember, you’re not going to be able to attend everything, and that is okay. That’s why we’re picking our priorities. If you’re at a live event, you might want to prioritize the sessions and events that are live that aren’t going to be recorded, so like networking or coffee chats.

So then after the conference you can go back and watch all of the session recordings. Or it might be the exact opposite. Maybe you’re like, I want to learn. I want to absorb all the things because I’m never going to watch the recordings and I don’t really want to people. That’s fine too. Or you can have a combination of the two and be willing to change the plan as you go along.

If it’s a longer conference, like Women in Publishing, that’s four days. You might get to day three and you’ve been prioritizing live events, but at day three, you’re like, Ooh, I need a break. And maybe you had planned on attending some live events that day, maybe you switch it up and watch some educational sessions that you don’t have to speak or don’t have to be on camera.

Usually chats are open sometimes, but if they’re not, you don’t even have to do that. Like you can just sit back and absorb That’s fine too. So be able to be flexible and listen to your body and your brain and being okay with switching it up if you need to.

All right, number three, check your tech beforehand and read all the instructions. Again, this is probably not news, and this is geared a little more toward virtual conferences, unless you’re speaking in person. And then you of course would want to check your mic and your slides and all of that. But if it’s virtual, make sure that the tech works before five minutes before the conference starts.

If you’re using Zoom, make sure it’s up to date and it’s functioning at the moment. Because we all know that tech can just fail whenever, but make sure it’s working as much as possible. Some conferences, depending on how big they are, use an app. Make sure you download it or access it on your desktop or laptop. Make sure you’re familiar with how it works, where all the things are.

Do all of that beforehand, not the day of the conference. It’s not going to end well, and for the love of all things good and holy in this world, please do not attend the welcoming session of a conference and immediately ask if it’s being recorded. Can you tell I have a pet peeve? I swear, without fail, every virtual conference I have attended, the first session, not even five minutes into it, someone has put in the chat, is this being recorded?

9.9 times out of 10, conferences plaster everywhere that things are going to be recorded or not. If you have that question, please go look at the conference website or the emails or anything that they’ve shared with you before you ask in the chat. Please, I beg of you. And I know no one here would ever do that.

Okay. But please, for my sake and for all of the other people attending the conference, please check before asking. There’s nothing wrong with asking questions, which is actually going to be something I talk about in a minute. But if it’s searchable and you can look it up, go look first. And then if you don’t know, you can always email the conference people. You don’t have to put it in the chat for everyone to see. Okay, off my soapbox.

This is going hand in hand with number four. Something I know probably shouldn’t have to be said, but I’m going to say it anyways, is to remember your manners. I’m always shocked at some people when I go to conferences, especially virtual conferences.

I don’t know if it emboldens people to not be on camera or being, quote, live, but phew, keep in mind that these are people you’re talking to. And you’re in a virtual room of your colleagues and clients and potential clients, so please act accordingly. That’s all I’ll say about that.

Okay, number five is ask questions if you’re able and/or comfortable doing so. Let me explain. Like I mentioned earlier about checking the schedule, also check and see how Q&As are being handled, and please abide by those rules. If you’re in a session and they say, please use the Q&A feature in Zoom, don’t put your question in the chat. If they say don’t turn on your mic, don’t turn on your mic.

Sometimes you’re not even able to turn on your mic, which I am all for. But just make sure that you follow those instructions, because if you don’t, your question is likely not to get answered, which we don’t want. Going back to the conferences that have apps. Some of them allow you to even ask the speakers or sponsors questions before the conference even starts or before the speaker has their session.

So if you are going in there ahead of time and you’re getting yourself familiar with the tech, that’s a great thing to check out and ask your questions even beforehand, if that’s something that you’re able to do. That way you have a little bit more, during a session, a speaker is focusing on speaking.

There’s a chance that your question might get skipped inadvertently. If it’s before the conference and before the session, they might have a little more brain space and time to do that. That, of course, depends on the conference and the speaker, but when you’re in there familiarizing yourself with everything, that’s something to look up.

And it’s such a great opportunity to ask questions. You have all of these speakers and experts and industry leaders in one spot. Their time is dedicated to you and the audience at that time. If you have questions, take advantage. Ask them in the right place, follow the instructions, and a lot of them will even share their email with you so that you can follow up with them afterwards.

If you are like me and remember the question you wanted to ask three seconds after you leave the session, which is a super good segue, which I didn’t even realize I did, but go me, is the last and final tip, which is follow up after.

Now, I am one million percent guilty of this, so we’re not passing judgment here, but tell me if this at all sounds familiar to you. You go to a conference or an event, you learn all the things, you’re like, oh, this is amazing, this is great, you leave the conference or event, and then you do nothing. You are too tired, you push everything off, and then ten months later you’re like, oh, hey, the recordings aren’t available anymore, and I never followed up with anybody.

Whoops! Totally been there, done that. So if you need a reminder like I do, let this serve as your reminder. Just like you made a plan before the conference on what you wanted to attend, now you can make a postconference plan immediately after the conference. Remember that time that you’re going to buffer in between the end of the conference and going back to work?

That’s a great time to make this postconference plan. Listing out the recordings you want to watch, listing out the speakers you want to follow up with, even if it’s just to say, Hey, I attended your session. It was amazing. I loved learning about XYZ. I’d love to stay in touch. Or if that’s on LinkedIn or whatever, connecting with other colleagues that you met, sponsors you want to follow up with, make that list immediately after the conference, and then make an actual plan to execute it.

It might be too big of a task to be like, okay, the following day after the conference, I’m going to email every single person I met. If you can do that, rock on. I can’t. I need some time. Maybe that plan is, okay, day after a conference, I’m going to email like, the priority people that I’m super pumped to connect with and maybe I limit it to two or three.

And then the next day, do another two or three. And so on and so forth. Because remember, small, tiny steps create big results. So it’s so much better to do two emails a day and it takes a month than attempting to do a hundred emails in one day and then actually never even sending one because it’s too big of a chunk to bite out of.

So making that plan after the conference is crucial for us, okay. I’m a procrastilearner. I love to learn. I’m not so great at the execution part. I’m getting there. If I could just make a living out of going to school or attending courses, but then not actually doing anything with the knowledge I learned, I would be, that would be my dream job, but that’s not going to happen.

So if you’re like me, you’ve got to have a detailed plan of what to do after and you have to follow through with it because we are missing out on a big chunk and lots of opportunities of the conference if we don’t do that follow-up and connect with those people in our community after and grow our community.

Don’t get me wrong. Conferences are great to learn from people, but connecting with the people is where it’s at too. Obviously, you know how I feel about community and that postconference plan, make sure that you also implement opportunities to share what you learned with your audience, whether that’s social media or podcast or newsletter or a blog.

Now you’ve got all these new skills and expertise that you can share with other people who weren’t able to attend the conference. It’s a great way to hype up the conference if it’s something that you enjoyed and that you would recommend. Obviously don’t recommend it if you think it sucked. That’s dishonest. Nobody here would do that either.

But yeah, that’s another community-building element is to share the conference so that it grows. More people come to it. You can connect with more people and we just keep growing and growing.

Okay. There you have it. Those are the main ways that I’m able to navigate conferences as an introvert. Again, take what works, tweak or leave the rest. I have found, though, that since embracing my introvertedness, I’m much more comfortable with opting out of things and doing what I need to do to protect my peace and my energy without giving myself FOMO. And that rears up so much during conferences.

Because then if I miss something and I hear, Oh, it was amazing after I’m like, Oh, I shouldn’t have taken that nap. I should have went. And then I’m like, Nope, you needed that nap. Because if you had showed up to that session, you wouldn’t have been there as your full self and you probably would have spaced out and not paid attention, which you might as well just went and taken a nap.

So like I mentioned multiple times, this all came about because of the Women in Publishing Summit. I highly recommend it. And I say that because I do highly recommend it, not because I’m trying to sell you something. It is a jam-packed four-day virtual conference. It is open to everyone, not just women.

It is March 5th through 8th. I should have looked for sure—I know I’ve attended, it’s either my third or my fourth year attending. But I’ll say third year just so I don’t exaggerate accidentally. But I know for sure it’s my second time that I will be speaking at the conference. This year, I’m on a panel called “Creating Business from Gaps in Publishing,” and it is with Linda Ruggeri and Brittany Dowdell and Neva Talladen, which, talk about fangirl moment there.

I’m so excited, that panel is on Saturday. So if you are interested, I recommend it for all editors. It doesn’t matter your experience level, how long you’ve been in business. You will learn something and meet some really cool people at the conference. I do have an affiliate link. I do earn a small commission for people that sign up through my link, which is TaraWhitaker.com/WIPS.

But regardless, even if I wasn’t an affiliate, I would be hyping this conference up the same way. It’s amazing, and it’s such a good event for our industry, or else I wouldn’t be going for three or four times and speaking at it if I didn’t love it. So if you have any questions, let me know. I hope to see you there.

And until next time, keep learning, keep growing, and introverts unite.

Thank you so much for tuning in to today’s episode. If you enjoy The Modern Editor Podcast, I would be so grateful if you left us a review over on iTunes. And as always, you can head to TaraWhitaker.com to connect with me and stay in touch.

We’ll chat again soon.