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Discussing big picture urban/city planning and design issues.
Jun 05, 2010
As much as we would like to be, we can’t be everywhere at the same time. Often there are many good conferences targeting the same audiences going on at the same time, and we have to make some tough choices about where to go and why...
In mid-June, I found at least three other conferences going on at the same time as the one I will be attending within relatively short flights of each other. Here are the four:
- June 15-17: NASCO Conference: Moving North America Forward in Des Moines, Iowa
- June 16-18: Meeting of the Minds Conference in Lincoln/Omaha, Nebraska
- June 16-17: Infrastructure Finance Conference in Chicago, Illinois
- June 17-19: Innovative Cities Conference: Best Practices in Urban Development in Lowell, Massachusetts
You might be able to attend most of the NASCO Conference and most the Innovative Cities Conference if you wanted to get really creative with flights, but unless you're Superman, it will be impossible to attend all four.
Assuming you wanted to attend sessions at all four conferences, your decision on which single conference to attend will ultimately come down to cost, content and contacts.
Cost:
There can be a big difference in the cost of flights and accommodations from city to city and state to state. You might be able to able to find a good hotel room in some cities for $60, whereas in others, finding one for twice that will be a challenge. Regarding flights, short-haul flights are usually cheapest, however, flights to major destinations where new flights have been opened up (e.g., Edmonton to Newark) can be less expensive than shorter flights to closer and more central destinations.
If you are applying for funding, through your workplace for example, then you may have funding limits and you may have to try to stretch every dollar. However, you will probably want to submit a proposal to attend whichever conference is most connected to your work and most likely to get approval.
If you have relatives in the vicinity of one of the conferences, you might be able to save some money on accommodations and perhaps even a rental car if you know a couple of good chauffeurs.
Content:
Again, as a general rule, whichever conference is best aligned with your specific job may be more likely to get you the funding you seek, but you also have to consider what your (and your corporation's) longer-term interests are. If you're working in drainage planning, for instance, you might want to attend a conference on leadership or management to boost your prospects of getting that big promotion. Or you hope to gradually transition into a transportation planning role, you might want to attend a conference on high speed rail opportunities.
Some conference organizers post the presentations of the different speakers online after the conference is over. The idea of this is if you had to choose between multiple breakout sessions, and you wanted to go to two different sessions at the same time but couldn't, then you could at least see the presentation of the one you missed online. Sometimes a password is required for access to these. Each conference has different rules.
Contacts:
Conferences can make great networking opportunities. One of your goals will be to go where the most people you want to meet will be. For instance, I remember reading that walkable communities expert Dan Burden makes an effort to regularly attend the yearly New Partners for Smart Growth conferences.
Typically, you can look up a conference’s agenda and speakers lists ahead of time, to get a feel for who will be attending. You may also be able to search online at LinkedIn, Twitter, or another blog page to get an idea of who else may be attending a particular conference.
If you have to miss a conference, but want to contact a particular speaker, you can usually find them online through your favourite search engine assuming they are "famous" enough. Many will have their own websites. Professors usually have a faculty page. Private sector employees can usually be reached through the main reception phone number posted on the firm's website. Likewise, public sector / government employees can usually be reached through a main reception number for either the particular department (e.g., Planning Department, Transportation Department) or through a primary city number that you can be transferred through.
I recommend contacting the speaker well in advance, and let them know that you had hoped to meet them in person at Conference X but will be busy attending Conference Y in another city. (This is a great reason, as it shows you are active in the field.)
If you try to reach them too close to the conference (before, during, or after), they may be busy preparing notes or presentation materials, or fielding emails from all the people they met in person at the conference, and yours could get lost in the mix.
Just a couple of other thoughts in closing: Consider, when you plan to attend a conference, if it is in, or near, a city you want to visit, for a vacation, family visit, or associated business trip. That way, you can kill two birds with one stone.
Also, be careful when you are applying to present at conferences to make sure that you have enough time to get between events, and don’t double-book yourself for two conferences at the same time.
In mid-June, I found at least three other conferences going on at the same time as the one I will be attending within relatively short flights of each other. Here are the four:
- June 15-17: NASCO Conference: Moving North America Forward in Des Moines, Iowa
- June 16-18: Meeting of the Minds Conference in Lincoln/Omaha, Nebraska
- June 16-17: Infrastructure Finance Conference in Chicago, Illinois
- June 17-19: Innovative Cities Conference: Best Practices in Urban Development in Lowell, Massachusetts
You might be able to attend most of the NASCO Conference and most the Innovative Cities Conference if you wanted to get really creative with flights, but unless you're Superman, it will be impossible to attend all four.
Assuming you wanted to attend sessions at all four conferences, your decision on which single conference to attend will ultimately come down to cost, content and contacts.
Cost:
There can be a big difference in the cost of flights and accommodations from city to city and state to state. You might be able to able to find a good hotel room in some cities for $60, whereas in others, finding one for twice that will be a challenge. Regarding flights, short-haul flights are usually cheapest, however, flights to major destinations where new flights have been opened up (e.g., Edmonton to Newark) can be less expensive than shorter flights to closer and more central destinations.
If you are applying for funding, through your workplace for example, then you may have funding limits and you may have to try to stretch every dollar. However, you will probably want to submit a proposal to attend whichever conference is most connected to your work and most likely to get approval.
If you have relatives in the vicinity of one of the conferences, you might be able to save some money on accommodations and perhaps even a rental car if you know a couple of good chauffeurs.
Content:
Again, as a general rule, whichever conference is best aligned with your specific job may be more likely to get you the funding you seek, but you also have to consider what your (and your corporation's) longer-term interests are. If you're working in drainage planning, for instance, you might want to attend a conference on leadership or management to boost your prospects of getting that big promotion. Or you hope to gradually transition into a transportation planning role, you might want to attend a conference on high speed rail opportunities.
Some conference organizers post the presentations of the different speakers online after the conference is over. The idea of this is if you had to choose between multiple breakout sessions, and you wanted to go to two different sessions at the same time but couldn't, then you could at least see the presentation of the one you missed online. Sometimes a password is required for access to these. Each conference has different rules.
Contacts:
Conferences can make great networking opportunities. One of your goals will be to go where the most people you want to meet will be. For instance, I remember reading that walkable communities expert Dan Burden makes an effort to regularly attend the yearly New Partners for Smart Growth conferences.
Typically, you can look up a conference’s agenda and speakers lists ahead of time, to get a feel for who will be attending. You may also be able to search online at LinkedIn, Twitter, or another blog page to get an idea of who else may be attending a particular conference.
If you have to miss a conference, but want to contact a particular speaker, you can usually find them online through your favourite search engine assuming they are "famous" enough. Many will have their own websites. Professors usually have a faculty page. Private sector employees can usually be reached through the main reception phone number posted on the firm's website. Likewise, public sector / government employees can usually be reached through a main reception number for either the particular department (e.g., Planning Department, Transportation Department) or through a primary city number that you can be transferred through.
I recommend contacting the speaker well in advance, and let them know that you had hoped to meet them in person at Conference X but will be busy attending Conference Y in another city. (This is a great reason, as it shows you are active in the field.)
If you try to reach them too close to the conference (before, during, or after), they may be busy preparing notes or presentation materials, or fielding emails from all the people they met in person at the conference, and yours could get lost in the mix.
Just a couple of other thoughts in closing: Consider, when you plan to attend a conference, if it is in, or near, a city you want to visit, for a vacation, family visit, or associated business trip. That way, you can kill two birds with one stone.
Also, be careful when you are applying to present at conferences to make sure that you have enough time to get between events, and don’t double-book yourself for two conferences at the same time.
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Contact Myron Belej, MCIP, AICP at myron@cityplanner.ca to:
- invite Myron to speak at a conference or event
- feature a version of this article in another publication
- inquire about Myron's consulting or coaching services
- request more information
Learn more about 'How to Hire Myron'.
Contact Myron Belej, MCIP, AICP at myron@cityplanner.ca to:
- invite Myron to speak at a conference or event
- feature a version of this article in another publication
- inquire about Myron's consulting or coaching services
- request more information
Learn more about 'How to Hire Myron'.