Conference Travel Tips, How to get the most out of a conference?

When you prepare to have a travel to a conference venue you should know that preparation, organization, and flexibility are key factors to make the most use out of your conference time and experience.

If you ignore these factors you may find the conferences a very overwhelming and terrible experience instead of being productive and fun.

It is very important to invest time, travel and energy to have a great experience attending a conference. Without these, the event that could have been an excellent experience, with the travel associated with it, may raise problems and become a complete nightmare for you.

Here are some useful tips you may consider when planning for a conference:

Flight and Accommodation

Choosing a good flight and accommodation is an important part of your travel budget.

Remember to never choose flights only according to the price, but to value, because the best flights usually aren’t the cheapest, nor are they the most expensive.

Choosing the right place that suits your needs and budget can reduce the amount of stress you may have while traveling and spend more money on having fun.

You have to make sure to choose a hotel that is worth the money you spend and is at a close distance to places of interest, which can greatly reduce the cost of your transportation.

Transportation

Another point to consider before leaving toward a country for a conference is how to get to different places, including tourist places, the conference venue, restaurants, commercial centers, etc.

Before traveling, make sure you want to rent a car at the destination, or you want to use public transport such as a taxi, subway or tram, or transportation apps like Uber, Lyft, etc. Not every city provides these comforts to the tourist, so do some research before the event and see what transportation options there are.

Find other attendees on social media

Finding familiar faces at a conference is a good strategy to reduce your stress and receive great experiences before planning your trip. Use LinkedIn, Twitter, Google+ or Facebook to connect to people you may meet at the same conference and share experiences with them.

Clothes

One of the most challenging issues regarding any travel is choosing the best and applicable clothes to save time and energy for packing. If you are a person who attends conferences over and over, know that you need to do a series of checklists to make packing easier, and more comfortable. First, you should check the conference website to know if it provides any guidelines in choosing the best and suitable clothes.  Please see https://cikd.ca/2019/10/20/dos-and-donts-of-conference-attire/.

Make sure your checked bags do not contain all of your clothes since lost baggage is inevitable in every trip; put some clothes in your carry-on to ensure you will not lose all you have since this may turn your best experience into a disaster!

Food

One of the most fascinating parts of every trip is tasting new foods and drinks. On every trip, you can learn a lot from the customs and interests of the people by experiencing the special foods and drinks in that area.

Try to find a good restaurant with good reviews online at a close distance to your hotel venue and save yourself the headache and book dinner reservations in advance. However, you should keep this in mind that the schedules are not always the same and you can sometimes stay without eating or eating very late.

Personal items

Personal items such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, spray, sunscreen, nail polish, cosmetics, pain killers, tablets and shaving tools are necessary items you should carry with you on any trip. If you take certain pills or medicines, be sure to bring them with you and don’t forget them. If possible, take anti-nausea pills, anti-diarrhea medication, and band aids. Make some small soaps for bathing or washing your hands with small napkins. Of course, there is shampoo in hotels but if you use special ones, don’t forget to bring them with you.

You also need your business cards to connect with other attendees, important documents like visa, passport, ID, etc., as well as your electronic devices, chargers, cords, laptop, mobile devices, tablets, laptops and batteries to ensure you have everything with you that you need to capture the moment and share it.

Plan your agenda

Before you arrive at a conference venue with no agenda, you will be left scrambling to find sessions to attend with any open seats. Prepare a checklist of everything you want to do, according to the details cited in the conference website and create a schedule for each day of the event. When you prepare a finalized plan, everything will proceed according to the guidelines of the conference.

Please share your tips, experiences, and ideas in the comments part; they will be so helpful to our community and conference attendees.