Tuesday Tips: June 10, 2014: How to get into conferences for free.
Today, here in NYC, there are countless conferences in session. Conferences on everything under the sun, from knitting to yoga to nuclear energy. Some of these conferences are reasonably priced, but many of them seem to have a very inflated sense of their importance on the food chain. If you, at home, are desperate to get into a conference that you can’t afford…not to fret, my pet, I have some helpful, realistic ideas.
Let’s say you find out about a cool conference, a conference that you suspect could tremendously help your career…but the tickets are way, WAY out of your league. Before you give up–not so fast, Kid–have you emailed the organizers and asked if there are any scholarship tickets, or sliding-scale tickets? Do they have student discounts? Could you work at the conference, in exchange for free entry? (Not to mention, working at the conference is a great way to network with, and, ideally, impress, people interested in the same things you’re interested in.) Shoot them a concise, personable email explaining your interest in the conference, and the larger industry. Tell the reader about any previous and relevant experience you’ve had in that field; and crucially, explain why you’d like to go. Explain what you can do for them. Listen, the worst they can do is blow you off. But, depending on how early you reach out to the conference organizers, depending on how good you sound, they might very well give you a job or at least a free pass.
Depending on the industry holding the conference, various industry-friendly websites might be sponsoring and donating free tickets. If it’s a tech conference, for instance, check out garysguide.com, and alleynyc.com. Other good sites to regularly check out are eventbrite.com, and brownpapertickets.com.
Before you get involved in this process, it never hurts to make sure that your LinkedIn profile, and all your social media is on point, showing you as the professional you purport to be. If you’re trying to get passes to an event that is similar to a subject you blog upon, this would be a good time to link your blog to your LinkedIn, Twitter and other social media accounts. This would be a great time to demonstrate that you are as good as you say. Make it easy for people to verify, and thus, help you.
Another great way to get free passes is to trade favors. So, if you are, say, head of your grad school’s alumni organization, and your group has a prestigious and passionate membership…why not contact the conference organizers and ask if you could trade some free passes for the opportunity to address your group? This, obviously, won’t fly with all conferences and all groups, but if you’re head of an alumni group in the Ivy League, for example, or a respected professionals group, you might be surprised at how many people would be receptive to your charms. (Work it!)
Finally, I received a free scholarship to Social Media Week 2014, because I wrote an essay. So if see opportunities out there, before you convince yourself that they’re not for the likes of you…oh, just go for it! Crucially, however: FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. If the organizers ask for a 500-word essay, give them what they ask for.
Good luck!