[yapc] Start Planning Your YAPC Strategy

[YAPC::NA Director]

>From guest contributor brian d foy:
Conferences are virtually non-stop activity, networking, hacking, and
socializing. YAPC, which is only three days, will have over 400 people moving
around between talks, between buildings, and to other places in Madison.
Theres a lot more going on besides the conference schedule: you dont need to
show up to hear the talks (theyll_be_uploaded), but you do need to be there to
hang out with people, carry on unstructured conversations in real life, and
drink with other attendees.
The problem, though, is that many things are already in motion by the time that
you step up to the registration table to get your badge. YAPCs have been going
on for over a decade and many of the people already know each other in
meatspace. They already know who theyll go out with in the evening, they
already know who they want to pair program with, and .
You need to start planning your YAPC strategy early and start lining up the
things you want to accomplish.
Your employer might be paying for your way to YAPC, including the workshop
fees, the conference ticket, and accommodations. Find out what your boss wants
you to come back with. Maybe its nothing in particular, which means youre
mostly done. However, by letting your boss know that you care about bringing
something back to the company, you might (should) get a boost in your
performance review. If theres something that your boss wants, now you know
what that is. Thats better than guessing.
Theres an impressive job fair this year. If youre looking for a job, start
researching the companies. The most important information might be geography:
where are their jobs? Talk to the recruiters before you get there, maybe
setting up an interview. Find out who you know who already works there and will
be at the conference. Your programmer friends might have changed jobs and now
be at one of those companies. Its often easier to get in through a referral
instead of cold-calling a recruiter.
If theres someone that you want to talk to at the conference, let them know
before you show up. Get in their mental queue before everyone else does. When
Ive done this, Ive offered beer, and sometimes dinner. While most groups
dont mind more people joining them, if you need to have someones attention,
you might want to set up something private ahead of time.
You might have a project to promote. The excitement of a YAPC, where 100 other
people have projects they are trying to promote, is going to suck the
excitement out of yours. That is, unless you start first by blogging, tweeting,
or redditing that youre going to YAPC and what youre doing there and what
help you need. Suck up the attendee capacity before someone else does.
Show up with a long list of things you want to get out of YAPC. You probably
wont get everything done, but shoot for the moon and hit the haystack. Dont
worry about the things that you cant do. Meet some people that you can talk to
after the conference. You can get some of them done later. Youll probably find
that some of the things that you thought were important really werent, so you
dont care about those. You cant always get what you want but if you try
sometimes, you might find you get want you need.
[From the YAPC::NA_Blog.]
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