Hopefully you had a chance to attend the 2014 ASIS seminar in Atlanta and had a GREAT time. There were a lot of great exhibits, speakers, and opportunities to network. Industry conferences like the ASIS show also provide a great opportunity to explore new ideas and create new partnerships. Prior to arriving in Atlanta, hopefully you had the opportunity to develop a checklist of things to do to help make the most of the ASIS seminar. If not, here is a great checklist from Chris Brogan of Owner Media Group to review prior to the next ASIS conference.
Either way, if you’re anything like me, you probably have a stack of business cards from people you met sitting on your desk right now. If that is the case, then it’s time to make a decision about what to do with them. Here is a list of 11 things that I plan on doing with my stack of business cards that I hope you find useful.
11 things to do after the ASIS seminar
- Scan you cards: If you have a scanner, make sure you scan all of your cards into your customer relationship management (CRM) software or address book.
- Organize your business cards: Separate your business cards into two piles “Contact Immediately” and “Contact Later“. Doing this will help you feel less overwhelmed about all the emails that you need to send out.
- Connect online: Connect with everyone that you met at the conference via their social media channels. Specifically, if they have a LinkedIn profile make sure that you connect with them there and on Twitter.
- Give people a chance to recuperate: Try not to send emails immediately after the conference because people will be playing catch-up from being out of the office. In many cases if you send an email in the first day or two after the seminar it’s likely to be ignored or overlooked.
- Personalize your emails: When you send your emails be sure to include something to help the person remember you are. For starters, try adding a sentence about the conversation that you had while at the ASIS seminar.
- Or send a hand-written note: If you really want to make an impression, try sending a handwritten note. Old-school notes will tend to stand out more than an email.
- Open a dialogue: When you send your email or handwritten note keep it short and include something that gives the person a reason to contact you.
- Connect offline: Although we live in a digital world, don’t forget about the importance of interacting offline and in person. If appropriate, schedule some time to meet with your contact for lunch or coffee to learn a little more about them.
- Keep the cards: Every now and then, take out the cards from the ASIS conference, shuffle them up, and send out a “Stay In Touch” email. Doing this will let your contacts know that you are still out there.
- Write something: If you have a social media channel or blog, make sure to write about something relevant that occurred at the show.
- Find a way to assist them: Did the people whom you talked with tell you about challenges that they might be facing? If so, try to find a way to connect them to a resource or someone in your network that may be able to assist them.
If you want to really build upon the connections that you made at the ASIS seminar it will take a little work. But if you follow the 11 tips outlined above, you will be able to grow these initial connections into a mutually beneficial relationships for you and the people you met.
Is there something else that you would add to this list? How successful have you been networking at ASIS seminars? Please feel free to comment below.
By Courtney Sparkman
