The Conference-Commando Field Manual

It's easy to be skeptical -- even cynical -- about the value of the conferences, seminars, and trade shows that so many of us spend so much of our time attending. Looking for big crowds and parties? Then go to one of the giant industry shows (Comdex, Internet World), where thousands of people exchange business cards all day and dance all night. Looking for serious debate and oh-so-intimate networking? Then wrangle an invitation to one of the highbrow gatherings that bring together industry executives (PC Forum, Agenda, TED) or political and social figures (the World Economic Forum, Renaissance Weekend) in resort settings. Looking for hands-on tools or bite-sized ideas about the future of your industry? Then attend one of the thousands of seminars that take place year-round in cities all around the world.

Don't get the wrong idea. There's a method to this conference-going madness. If you believe that succeeding in business is about pushing yourself to learn new things, to change, and to build a web of personal relationships, then sitting at your desk looks more like an invitation to inertia than a prescription for productivity. Going to the right conferences, and attending them in the right way, can be critical to your strategy for staying on the cutting edge -- both in your company and in your career.

"We're heads-down about our work these days," says Chris Shipley, executive producer of the Demo conference series, which focuses on emerging technologies. "We work long hours, and we're obsessed with specific items on our to-do lists. A conference offers a deliberate way of lifting your head, looking around, and making sure that you're on the right track."

Ask Mark Klein. Back in 1990, Klein went to PC Forum, the elite gathering convened every spring by technology pundit Esther Dyson. He had a mission in mind: to find Bill Gates and to show off his company's new software. That company, Channel Computing Inc., had created an executive-information system called Forest & Trees. Klein buttonholed Gates at the registration desk, did a one-hour demo in a hotel room, and persuaded Microsoft to promote Forest & Trees as an example of what Windows 3.1 could do. Several years later, again at PC Forum, Klein used some free time at a patio table to introduce executives from Lotus Development Corp. to software made by another company of his, Edge Research Inc. Seven months later, Lotus purchased Edge.

Each October, when Maria Campbell, a book scout based in Manhattan, touches down for the mammoth Frankfurt Book Fair, she too has a mission in mind: to find titles for the 14 publishing houses that she represents. That's why she is always accompanied by two senior staffers from her office: "There are just too many bases to touch at the show -- publishers and authors and agents to meet, and manuscripts to read. We divvy up responsibilities and get together twice a day for status meetings."

John Patrick, vice president of Internet technology for IBM, goes to more conferences in a year than most people go to in a lifetime. He doesn't go to hear speeches or to enjoy sunny climates. He goes in search of talent -- of smart people who might form a good fit with IBM. "In the networked world, it's more important than ever to go to conferences," says Patrick. "Reading news on the Web and participating in email discussions are great, but you can lose touch if those are your sole sources of input. You get an edge by actually being with people. Conferences are a way to get a fresh perspective, to develop long-term relationships, and to play with ideas."

Klein, Campbell, and Patrick are not just conference attendees. They are conference commandos -- people who treat a few days at an industry or professional gathering as a surgical strike that generates value for their company, that helps their career, and that shapes their perspective on the future. These conference commandos live by the guiding principles of an economy built on networks -- that whom you know is as important as what you know, and that you have to update what you know by continually encountering new ideas. To help you join their ranks, Fast Company presents a training guide based on insights from these and other battle-scarred conference veterans. Think of what follows as a field manual for conference commandos.