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Are Conferences Worth It For Your People?

It’s the opening session. Lights flash as thunderous music blares. A video dramatically welcomes everyone to the big event and the city. A host promises three days packed with valuable information, notable speakers, entertainment, and networking opportunities.

But will your employees come away with information, resources, and connections they can use? Will your organization benefit in some way?

You want results from a conference—improved employee skills or information that will help you grow your business. It’s helpful to think of them as upskilling and networking opportunities for your employees rather than just an event to attend.

But not all conferences are the same. Some are great investments, while others fall to the wayside. Are conferences worth it? Yes, but to get those results, you have to develop goals, choose only events that fit your standards, and determine how to use the newly acquired information. (In the future, we’ll talk about how businesses can make the most out of a conference as a vendor.)

In Person or Online Conferences

Hotels, convention centers, and event spaces host thousands of conferences each year. But there’s been a rise in virtual conferences from 2020 onward, and many employees perfer that option, too. Let’s briefly look at both of them.

In-person conferences

This is the preferred conference method of over 70 percent of employees, according to data from PromoLeaf. There’s typically a level of excitement around employees and hundreds or thousands of co-attendees. There are opportunities meet connections at a lunch table or on the way from one session to another. There are chances to watch product demonstrations or learn about the latest rends in the industry. There’s the added benefit of getting away for a few days.

However, these are usually the costliest of the two types of conferences.

Virtual conferences

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the rise of virtual conferences. Faced with tremendous losses, event planners turned to virtual alternatives. Some chose to remain in that space.

A virtual event may not have the sparkle and pizzazz of an in-person event, but it significantly lowers costs. Travel and convention center space is not necessary. More presenters and speakers may become available because they won’t have to travel. However, the ability to network is limited, and technical glitches are always possible.


Related: Tips for Making the Most of College Career Fairs (As A Business)


The Cost of Conference Attendance

A conference can come at a high price, especially an in-person event. The total can exceed several thousand dollars per attendee. This comes from costs like:

  • Conference fees: These go to the group hosting the conference to pay for things like the venue, marketing, food, presenter fees, and more. They can range from double-digit to quadruple-digits in dollars.
  • Travel costs: Your people need to get to the conference, move around, and stay there.
  • Time away from work: This should be considered less of a cost, because upskilling and beneficial conferences ultimately add value, but you’ll still be paying employees while they’re at conferences.

What Make a Conference Worth It?

The ideal conference will contribute to your comapny’s and employees’ success. Whether it’s through innovative ideas from the sessions employees attended or new business partnerships grown from connecting with other attendees, conferences facilitate new opportunities. So how do you make them valuable?

Evaluate the Event

Is the conference even worth attending? Examine what it has to offer.

  • The host organization: Is the host in your industry, or does it support your industry in some way? Are they an organization that could add value to the organization later?
  • Their target audience: Note the professions, industries, levels (executives, management, individual contributors) the conference caters to, and how many have attended past events.
  • The agenda: Read through the topics and descriptions and decide whether there are enough sessions with innovative, relevant information.
  • Keynote speakers and presenters: They should be well respected in their field and have something new to teach.
  • Vendors: Among the mass of vendor tables and booths, there should be several that your employees will want to target.
  • Activities: Look for opportunities to network with people who may become customers, business partners, or product/service providers.

If it makes sense for your people to attend, you can start creating a plan with goals.

Set Goals

What do you want to gain from a conference? Establish some goals. For example:

  • Organizational or departmental objectives: You’re looking for new and better ways to expand your business or to meet and exceed sales goals.
  • Employee development: You have a skills gap in your organization, so you want employees to enhance their skills and knowledge.

Make these goals tangible, measurable, and actionable.

Create a policy for conference attendance

Set expectations for attendance and post-conference follow-ups. Even an ideal conference will lose value if you don’t make the best of the information your employees bring back.

Decide who and how many should attend

Which employees can best achieve the goals—whether personal for the employee or more broadly for the business—set for the event? Should they have a certain level of job experience? Maybe one attendee can go and then share novel ideas with coworkers. Two or more may be best if the goal is employee development or if there are multiple sessions and activities to cover.

For virtual events, consider allowing employees to attend from home to avoid distractions and interruptions in the office.

Set criteria for employee-requested conferences

If employees ask to attend a conference, have them go through the process you established—determining goals and evaluating the event—and pitch why the event is worth it for them and the company.

Require a post-conference report

Have your employees prepare a summary of their conference experience. What knowledge, skills, or pertinent information did they gain? Did they connect with key people or learn an efficient process? Do they recommend attending in the future? If they discovered something especially helpful, have them present it to the team.

Define next steps

You now have some new information, business connections, and ideas. What are you going to do with them? Gather the conference attendees and the rest of your team to sift through the information. Create an action plan for each useful item. Dish out assignments and get to work.

Are Conferences Worth It?

There isn’t a blanket answer to this question. Each company—and even each employee’s—situation is different. However, if you’re interested in getting the most out of conferences, follow steps we’ve outlined to help make them worth it.