So last year being my first Symposium I did not know what to expect. I know there will be a lot of new attendees this year, so I wanted to give you some advice to make it the best experience that it can be.

Network, Network, Network

Starting at the airport I must have made at least five contacts with people also travelling to the Symposium. Waiting for my plane and the bus to the hotel. Also, I met in person a few people I have talked to online. I even ran with one of them. Yes, running with someone is a good way to network. As you make connections always make sure you have a bunch of business cards with you, so they contact you for whatever reason. A lot of the people you will meet may be someone you work on a project with in the future or may need to reach out to for some help.

Get to Know Your Co-Workers.

A lot of us work remote and don’t interact with our co-workers daily. If we do it is usually via email, skype, slack, WebEx etc.… Being at the Symposium face to face with people you work with can help establish a better working relationship. The old saying a face with the name is never more so true in today’s world. I also ran with one of my co-workers.

Get some nice bling.

From the time you arrive at the Symposium to the time you leave there are so many things with different Sitecore branding that you can take with you. I collected several buttons, flashlights, a hotel key, small plastic beer mugs, glasses, ice cubes you name it with Sitecore logos on it. Not to mention I got a lot of cool stuff from all the vendors there. Including stuff like pop sockets and socks.

Give some nice bling.

I mentioned buttons above and this year I decided to do my own to trade and give out. I think this will not only be a good way to promote my blog site, but break the ice with several other attendees. The company I work for Paragon was giving out cool flashlights last year. I made sure to hand those out whenever I could.

Be comfortable and dress nice.

Working remote I honestly don’t dress business casual these days. The recommended dress for the Symposium is business casual. I normally wear running shoes, but I thought I would get something that was like a classic sneaker, but could also work with business casual attire. Well good-looking shoes does not equate to comfortable. I was in so much pain it got harder to walk around every day (you will do a lot of walking). I learned my lesson and this year I plan on wearing shoes that are broken in and comfortable. You can look up business casual attire since it is interpretation is open, but considering you will be representing your employer there you want to dress nice. I am fortunate enough to have shirts with Paragon’s logo on it.

See you all there!