An important part of your life as a professional is keeping your skills sharp with professional seminars and conferences. Attending seminars and conferences is imperative to any professional career because it provides you with a means of gathering new ideas, techniques, and solutions to many of your common problems. In addition, seminars and conferences allow you to meet others in your profession, to speak directly with experts, and to make valuable new contacts and expand your business network. As with any portion of your business life, the value you get from these experiences can vary depending on how much effort you put into them. There are some key steps you can take to prepare yourself to garner maximum benefit from all of your professional seminars and conferences.

• Business cards. Make sure you have an ample supply of business cards with you at seminars and conferences you attend. Keep them in your pocket and at the ready for anyone who requests a copy. Do NOT hand out unsolicited cards to every person you meet. Instead, reserve them for those who make a request or those with whom you consider to be a valuable prospective contact.
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• Pen and paper. A pen can be one of your most valuable tools for seminars and conferences. You can use it not only to take notes and jot down important ideas from presentations but also to make notes about potential contacts on the backs of business cards you receive.
• Follow up. At the end of the day, take a few moments to send an email message to contacts you met during the day. Be sure to mention a couple of key topics you discussed with each to let him or her know that you remember the meeting. Making a prompt, personal communication is a wonderful way to show respect to business contacts and to leave a lasting, positive impression of you.
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