Notable observations at a recent investment conference

• The male\female ratio.

• The “uniform” of the men, in particular, everyone is in suits, occasional tie

• The amount of small group and 1-1 chat

These types of conferences are mostly about a form of marketing, and secondarily a way of exchanging and finding new ideas.

That is why I’ve argued previously via UnConference is a much superior way of discussing ideas. But the purposes of these conferences are not that. Primarily they are for companies to market their business, products, credentials, for investment bankers  to raise their reputation and network, and as a side effect for investors to find and exchange ideas, and build social capital  (That is partly why there is so much small group chat).

I have 11 tips to make the most of such a conference:

1. -Always have all your stuff with you eg coat, bad, iPad etc.

2. -Always be super kind to staff, admin and helpers

3. -If you need to cancel, let organisers know in advance

4. -Plan for all the meetings you want to take

5. -Allow space for “focused serendipity”, go to something you know nothing about

6. -Dress for comfort and speed, be aware of the signal

7. -In any planned  meeting, have one great prepared specific question

8. -In any unplanned, meeting have your go to list of useful questions 

9. -Know where the least busy toilets are, find them early

10. -Prepare to say Yes to the unexpected 

11. -Prepare to say No to the waste of time

1 because this means you can always leave, also I am less likely to forgot coat in coat store. The queue for coat stores are often crazy long at peak times.

2 because this makes you a good human but also they will remember and make your life easier too where they can because you did this for them, also see 3.