How to Face a Congress

If you hear the word “congress”, what’s the first thing that comes up to your mind? 

A lot of hustle? Reunions? Make new contacts? Updates?

There’s a lot of people looking forward to attend several congresses. 

Some others think about how hectic the experience could be and also they are afraid spending a lot of hours standing up. 

And of course there’s the people that for the first time have to face a congress and they don’t know exactly what is going to happen. 

If that’s your case, stay with us because we will help you out. 

In CMC we attended to more than a hundred congresses over the last 15 years. 

We’ve been in national and international ones, some of them even outside Europe. 

For those trips, it is important to have a previous preparation, a very well marked ideas and a good planning for all the days you will be out. 

Once you are there, you have to let your social skills do their job. Create new contacts is one of the main objectives that you have to keep in mind. We will share some tricks with you. 

Once the congress is over is normal to feel tired. But that’s not the end at all. There’s a lot of things to check and stuff to prepare. 

Shall we begin? Let’s go! 

Dates

It might sound silly to remember this, but hear me out; it is important to make sure which are the dates of the congress we are going to attend with enough time to be able to organize it all. 

Remember that is not the same to be on a national congress than in an international one. 

How long does this congress lasts? Will we attend every single day? Or would it be an express one? (There and back the same day).

Flights, transport and accommodation 

Once we decided how long the trip will be, it’s time to find a flight. Even if we are very used to find them on the internet, there’s a very helpful trick that it works out very well for us. 

Go to Google Flights. Indicate the place you are flying from and your destination, along with the congress dates. After that you will see some icons from the date table and the prices graphic. That way you can compare if by leaving or arriving one day earlier of after it is more cheap. 

Another option, if your congress is in Madrid or Barcelona, is the high speed train. There’s different companies such as Adif, Ouigo or Avlo where we can find different times during the same day. Also the biggest advantage is that you are in the city center and is much easier to move around. 

Okay, so here we are. Now what? 

Try to discover how to get from the train station or the airport to the congress place. Luckily big cities always offer a good public transport if you want to save some money. If you rather save some time, taxi is the solution for you. 

After the first day you might feel wrecked. Now it’s time to rest. Our recommendation is to try to find accommodation near the congress place. Why is that? To save a lot of time going up and down from one place to the other. Your time is gold, always remember that. 

Congress program 

Planning is the key. Do you have fast access to the program? What is your role here? Are you on a stand? Where is more likely for you to have business opportunities?

Recommendation: Take good notes. That way you will go to all the meetings you have scheduled with clear objectives. There’s no time to lose here. 

Suitcase

If we are honest, we don’t like to check in our bags to put in the hold . Normally you spend around one or two nights away. It won’t be necessary to bring all your wardrobe with you. Here’s some things you can keep in mind when you are packing up. 

• Check the weather
  Is it going to rain? Is it going to be very hot or cold? Are we going in the winter or the summer?
• Multipurpose clothing 
  Try to pack clothes which you can use for any occasion. That way you can create more than just one outfit. For example, If you bring two pairs of trousers, try to have one more casual and the other more elegant. Of course, your luggage capacity depends on the season you are flying. (Jumpers and thick clothes occupy more space than light clothes). 
• Shoes
  This is very important. We all like to dress nicely, but after hours and hours going from one side of the congress to the other, feeling comfortable is the key. Always bring two pairs of shoes so your feet can rest. 
• Bringing a suit 
  Don’t do any check in! We found this amazing tip on YouTube. Fold the suit and once you are in your hotel room/Airbnb hang it in the bathroom. With all the steam from the shower you won’t need to iron anything. It will look amazing! 
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwRkcgyCb1E
• Wash bag
  Despite the typical things you bring with you (toothbrush, perfume, shampoo…) it’s always good to bring a nice serum to refresh your face. It makes you look good in 2 minutes! You must be thinking we are crazy but the way you look will make the clients and sponsors be more open. 

Meetings and networking

It’s time for some action! Previous preparation will help us to feel more confident during meetings. It will also be good to show genuine interest to the other attendees. But despite all your scheduled meetings, during congresses you will have to improvise and adapt to the situation. Sometimes the best ideas and collaborations come out from this type of networking.

Food 

Try to start your day with a good old breakfast so you have strength for the rest of the day.

We would love to tell you that you will eat amazing food at the congress, but after 15 years travelling, we haven’t been on even one where we had a nice meal. Our recommendation is to bring some snack bars or nuts and don’t forget to drink water. 

During dinners, if you can, have a nice meal. You deserve it! You’ve been all day out and working non stop. Now is your time to enjoy! 

Rest 

You will be absolutely wrecked. Try to find time before and after the congress for yourself. What really works for us is to have a lovely shower before going out for dinner. 

Turism/Leisure

This is tricky if the congress is not in the city center. However, if you have clients or suppliers who are from there, ask them what to see or where to get some nice food. That time will help you to disconnect. Furthermore, you never know where you can find a new client…

Meetings review 

Time flies! The congress is over. Now it’s time to review everything that happened and you did there. Do you remember what we said about writing everything down? 

With so many meetings and short conversations and experiences it is essential to take good notes to make a good follow up. We like technology, but for this particular issue we still love our notepad. 

Follow up

What did we talk about? What do they need? Which are the next steps? Now you’ll appreciate all those notes in your beloved notepad. You will be able to text all those new contacts as soon as possible, to keep the interest going. 

What has helped you cope with these types of events? We can't wait to know your tricks!