Measuring Conference ROI
By Alisa Bonsignore
Yes, I am on the board of directors for the Society for Technical Communication (STC), so there is probably an inherent bias to any analysis of the conference, but I can honestly say that this was quite possibly the best Summit I’ve ever attended. The speakers were excellent, the sessions were packed, and I came away with lots of new ideas and new contacts. Overall, it was everything that I wanted from a conference.
As an independent, committing to a conference is tough. There’s no getting around the fact that attending a conference — any conference — is a steep financial commitment in terms of conference fees, hotels, travel and meals, not to mention the fact that you’re not earning money during the time away. It takes a significant leap of faith to trust that this investment is going to pay off.
So how do you measure the ROI on a conference? It’s not something that’s obvious on the first day back in the office. How and when does the value make itself clear?
I’ve taken a step back to look at my notes and see what I learned.
- From Ben Woelk, I re-evaluated my role as an introvert, read a bit more about how my rare INFJ personality works best with others, and had a few “aha!” moments regarding a few of my clients’ personalities. That kind of insight can really go a long way.
- Aimee Roundtree’s session on big data got me thinking about my recent Coursera Data Science Specialization in a new way.
- Richard Hamilton’s session about self-publishing gave me some insights that I needed for a potential project that a client has been batting around.
- Matt Sullivan laid out the how-to of using your content to create killer courseware. In a lot of ways, we were on the same page for how we go about projects, but he laid it out in such a clear, straightforward way that actually clarified part of the process for me.
- David Rumsey discussed writing for translation and globalization, a must for all of my clients.
And this doesn’t even begin to cover the people that I met. The new follower notifications on Twitter are coming fast and furious, and I’ve already joined a newly formed Slack group to keep us all connected post-Summit.
Did you attend the Summit in Anaheim? What did you learn? If you attend other conferences, how do you find the ROI?
Alisa Bonsignore
Senior Member
Lone Writers SIG
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisabonsignore
* Twitter: @clearwriter
* Blog: http://clarifyingcomplexideas.com
This blog post is part of a series of curated and edited posts authored by attendees at Summit 2016. The posts will discuss key takeaways and efforts by individuals and STC Communities to build on their Summit experience. If you'd like to contribute a post, let us know.
After the Summit appear initially at http://clarifyingcomplexideas.com/2016/05/after-stc-summit/