She Speaks Tips

First let me say that ya’ll have blessed my heart with your comments on Maybe you click … Maybe you don’t. It does good for me to know I’m not the only one who feels like that — and hopefully, it will help you remember the same!

I’ve been thinking about this post for awhile … what can I share with you, the first time She Speaks attendee that might help you. When lo and behold, my buddy Antique Mommy sent out these tweets today:

These are so cool Last year I don’t think I looked at reserved/stand offish/stuck up as equal to shy. So I’ll definitely try to remember that one this year! The last one put a huge smile on my face. I know a lot of ladies have been worrying about what to wear. To tell you the truth, I cannot remember one outfit someone else was wearing last year, but I remember the ones who smiled and were friendly.

Business cards

The subject of business cards for She Speaks came up on Twitter, and I was asked for my advice. Last year I printed mine out on my ink jet printer a day or two before I left for She Speaks. I’m thankful I did. At conferences most people will have business cards to exchange. This helps get your contact information out there to people and helps you remember who you met (hopefully!). I have to admit, I have gotten some business cards for ladies I met that I don’t remember meeting. I must have been that deer-in-headlights when I talked to them!

If you are just getting started, I think it’s perfectly fine to print out your own business cards. They may not look as professional as others, but if you’re just starting out — people understand. You can also get some good quality printed cards online for a reasonable amount of money — though some places will send you 500 as the smallest package. I didn’t give out that many at She Speaks last year but that may have been because I was fairly shy Even if you are “just a blogger” I think it’s good to have a business card for your blog. You do want people to go read it, don’t you?

Information to include on business cards

I would include at least your name, blog url, and email. I do not include my address or my phone number for a couple of reasons. These are personal reasons and you may feel different — that’s your perogative

I don’t include my address because you most likely don’t need it for any reason. Seriously, all my work is done online and if you had to ship me something? I’d prefer you just shoot me an email to get my address. Kind of the same thing for my phone number. My preferred method of communication is email. I’m not saying I won’t talk to you on the phone, but if we need to talk about something that we can’t communicate through email, you can email me and we can exchange numbers. I prefer to setup a time to talk also, so the email gives us a chance to set that up. Not that I think you’d stalk me or anything, but I don’t just want my home phone floating out there — or my cell phone for that matter Of course if you Twitter, you might want to include your Twitter id as well — although if you have that linked from your blog towards the top in a prominent place, you may decide to leave that off.

Take a break

If you are like me and get overwhelmed easily (by either the number of people around you or the information you are learning), remember to take a break. I think last year I was afraid I’d miss out on some big opportunity if I went away from the crowd for a minute or two. I stayed in a separate hotel last year and even though it was right down the street, I didn’t want to miss anything by getting in my car and driving there. Just don’t feel bad if you need to sneak up to your room for a few minutes of quiet time. You’d be amazed at how refreshed you’ll feel!

Remember to call home

This is a big one for me — as in, last time I forgot to do it enough. My Genius Better Half tends to let his imagination run a little wild when I’m out of town without him. He tends to think about things like me going off for dinner and being attacked. Pleasant stuff. So, I need to remember to call home and check in every now and then. It’s also good (if you have a worry-wort better half) to leave a schedule of the sessions. That way he will have an idea when you’ll be in between sessions and he can call you if you haven’t called him.

Drinks, snacks and such

As everyone knows, I am a Coke addict — I prefer it in the red-and-white can, but will take bottles happily. At the conference (with all the meals and such) you can get water, tea, and I think they even did coffee here and there. But if you need a little stronger pick-me-up in the middle of the day, there’s a little store in the lobby of the hotel where you can get important things like Coke and chocolate It was really late in the afternoon on Saturday when I found this little nugget out — I was going into serious withdrawals ya’ll!

Blogger Meetup

Last year they had a little reception for the bloggers to get together before the conference started. I don’t think they are going to do that again this year, but a couple of my buddies and I are going to meet up for sure — even if it’s in someone’s room So follow me on Twitter or check my updates there (you can do that without an account — though if you get an account then you can tweet me and meet up with me there!!).

That’s all I have for now. Do you have any questions? Are you still worried about attending the conference?

While I still have your attention, go check out Especially Heather’s post about her feelings before She Speaks. I think you’ll like it