There is a mystique around attending conferences and being on the board. Even just participating in weekly meetings. Service providers love it because it’s marketing for their firm – meet, greet, have lunch, have some laughs. Business leads love them because they get some time off, free lunch, round of golf and some good times.
But so much of the value of conferences are tied up in personal brands. “So and so” is going to be there. Did you hear that “Joe” is going to be speaking? “Sam” is going to be there and he throws the best parties. They don’t say that JLL will be there or CBRE or Colliers. That doesn’t mean much. But you get the characters there…..magic.
So what’s the value of your personal brand to your company? They are the ones paying so presumably they are getting some value from your attendance. It follows our standard bell curve. No attendance – no value. Some attendance – some value. Lots of attendance – cost exceeds return (maybe you should just move to marketing?).
But the same relationships hold for your personal value. Attend too many and the time commitment exceeds your ability to continue to excel in your career.
Find the balance.