If it hasn’t reached you yet, it will soon – there are a plethora of live events in the online world.
Now there’s an excellent reason for this: hosting your own event can be a huge business boost, which is why many entrepreneurs find themselves turning the entire event upside down. However, for the attendee, it can be downright overwhelming deciding which events are worth the time / money / hassle to attend.
If it’s you, fear not, help is here. As someone who has attended probably a trillion events (good, bad and ugly), I have some thoughts on this whole event attendance thing. Here are 3 questions to ask yourself when an event invitation comes your way:
1. Is the promise of the event something you feel you need to learn? Events are all about training first, so taking a look at what’s going to take place is a great place to start. In addition to reviewing the promise of the event (or the transformation you will receive by attending), also check with the host of the event. Is it someone you want to learn from? Not just from a credibility standpoint, but will you enjoy watching them on stage for long periods of time?
If the answer is “yes”, it would probably be worth taking time in your schedule to attend (especially if there is no other way to get the information). If the answer is “no,” that doesn’t necessarily mean you shouldn’t attend, but you should definitely keep reading.
2. Will networking be worth it? Will your ideal clients and / or potential joint venture partners be in attendance? Events are also about meeting people live and in person. If your friends will be at the event, you probably want to be there too. If they’re not going to be there, well then you might want to think twice before attending, unless …
3. Is it time to infuse new ideas into your business? Do you feel old and stale sitting alone in your home or office? Events are great at helping you shake the cobwebs out of your current thoughts and behaviors and get you to see things from a new perspective. If you feel stuck or overwhelmed in your business, attending an event may be just the ticket to helping you gain a fresh new perspective (which can ultimately lead to unstuck and not overwhelmed).
And I know I promised 3 questions, but here is an additional question:
4. Has it been a while since you attended an event? I think there are a ton of benefits to stepping away from your daily to-do list and into the energy of the possibilities that events offer, and if it’s been a while since you’ve attended an event, then it’s probably time.
Now, to score, unless you’ve had all yes’s or all no’s, there is no right or wrong answer. If there was only one yes, but it was a really strong and important yes, that may be enough for you. But on the other hand, you can still refuse to attend an event even with all but one who was (if the only one wasn’t strong enough, you just felt like you couldn’t bear it).
Mainly what I wanted to do is help you think through all the reasons why attending events is important and then decide if this particular event is right for you.
