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I’ve been to a lot of IP conferences over the years and have found some to be more useful than others. Still, at each one, I have learned something about IP, gained a valuable contact, or gained professional insights. Ultimately, I’ve always believed that in any endeavor, you get back what you put in and this maxim holds true for conferences. Here are seven tips for making the most out of IP-related conferences.
1) Choose your conferences wisely
After five conferences in eight weeks (four in the last five weeks), I am just about conferenced out. While not all the conferences I went to centered around IP, most had some relevance to the subject. Fortunately, I don’t have any more conferences on my calendar until the fall, but if I had to redo my summer schedule, I would have given more thought to which ones I attended (some required my attendance, others did not).
In choosing which conferences to attend, it’s important to prioritize. No one has unlimited time and resources to fly all over the country, so pick the ones that are most important to you. For some, particularly students and young professionals, going to broad IP conferences where you can have exposure to many types of IP specializations will be better. For others who are already deeply invested in a particular specialty, going to more focused conferences may be a better use of time. Pick conferences that have topics and speakers of interest.
If you’re invited to speak at a conference, find out ahead of time who else is on your panel and what the other sessions are. That can help you determine whether to accept the invitation.
2) Do your research
Following from #1, doing a little research on the conference is essential. A conference that is targeted to in-house counsel who do IP as part of, but not a majority of, their job duties, will be significantly different than one targeted on IP specialists. Likewise, one designed for academia will have vastly different programming than one for practitioners.
Additionally, it’s helpful to know what programs are on the agenda and who the speakers are ahead of time. Personally, I like to attend conferences where panels have a diversity of viewpoints — creators, rightholders, users — as well as diversity of speakers. While “manels” (and all white manels, at that) aren’t limited to the IP space, I’ve been to more than enough conferences where the lack of diversity is the first thought that springs to mind. It’s important to have diversity of viewpoints as I have no interest in attending conferences that serve as echo chambers and offer no true rigor or competing views. I also firmly believe that racial and gender diversity is fundamental and provides for better panels.
Some conferences offer pre-reading or have slides up ahead of time, which is very useful in preparing. Looking up the speakers ahead of time can help you determine what thoughts they have on the subject. You can often find YouTube videos of past speeches as well, which can give you an idea of their presentation styles and how much depth they go into.
3) Plan your conference schedule
Some of my favorite conferences unfortunately have competing programming. Sometimes, I want to attend three different sessions that are happening simultaneously. By doing advance research, you can figure out which speakers you’re most interested in. You can see if slides are up ahead of time to determine which sessions to attend and which to skip. Don’t automatically get sucked in by a catchy title! Some panels and sessions have what appear to be interesting titles, but the actual subject matter is dry or the speakers are hard to follow. If you’re an introvert, plan for breaks as well. Personally, I love the energy from conferences, but some of my colleagues feel drained by back-to-back sessions. If you fall into this bucket, give yourself the grace for self-care instead of feeling the pressure to attend every session and networking event.
4) Seek outside meetings ahead of time
Personally, I often find the highest value not in the programming of the actual conferences, but in the one-on-one, face-to-face interactions. Having been in the field for some time, I know that at any given conference, I’ll run into people who I’ve worked with before but live in different cities. To the extent possible, I find out who else is attending and try to meet up for coffee or dinner to catch up and learn about new projects or developments. While in the digital era it’s certainly easy to exchange emails or even participate in video conferencing, but nothing beats face-to-face communication. My own conference schedules fill up fairly quickly, so plan early if you can. When I was just starting out, I would often just introduce myself at the conference itself, but if there was someone I was particularly interested in meeting, it never hurts to send a cold email in advance. The worst that can happen is that the person ignores you, in which case you’ll still have the opportunity to introduce yourself at the conference.
5) Ask questions
Most panels have a Q&A session for the audience. Having a question prepared — because you’ve done your conference research, right? — can make it much easier to go up to the microphone and engage (thoughtful comments are also welcome, since most speakers will respond to comments). I like questions for two reasons. First, if you’re thinking about this issue, you’re probably not the only one. Plus, it gives you a bit of exposure and others may seek you out to follow up with you afterward. Additionally, audience questions are a gift to the speakers and moderators. I certainly feel there is a certain awkwardness when no one has any questions. Was the presentation too boring? Was anyone even paying attention? Finally, asking questions helps you stay engaged. Just don’t be a microphone hog.
6) Introduce yourself to speakers and attendees
Don’t be shy in introducing yourself to speakers. Tell them what you appreciated about their presentation or ask them to expand on a certain point. Ask for advice on a particular topic, including career advice. Ask if you can follow up with them. The Q&A portion is often not long enough or the conversation you want to have might diverge from the presentation topic. Making the most of IP conferences (or any conferences, really) means taking advantage of the great talent there. I’ve made numerous connections networking at conferences. And, don’t forget, it’s not just the speakers who can provide valuable insights and connections — attendees are there for a reason, so introduce yourself to others in the audience, make small talk at lunch, ask people you know for introductions. Take advantage of being at a conference in person.
7) Make time for those who want to meet you
Finally, I suggest making time for those who might want to meet you. This is a bit of a pay-it-forward moment, but if you’re a young practitioner, there may be law students who want advice. While I do like to have some meetings scheduled ahead of time, I often meet people at conferences who I want to have a more in-depth conversation with — or someone will introduce themselves to me and ask if I have time to chat. I am so grateful to those who make time for me and am more than happy to try to do the same for others.
Krista L. Cox is a policy attorney who has spent her career working for non-profit organizations and associations. She has expertise in copyright, patent, and intellectual property enforcement law, as well as international trade. She currently works for a non-profit member association advocating for balanced copyright. You can reach her at kristay@gmail.com.