1. SERENDIPITY: THE BARRON'S TEAM. CONFERENCE. Last week, I did
something I had not done in too long—attend a conference as a participant not as
a ...
SERENDIPITY: THE BARRON’S TEAM CONFERENCE Last week, I did something I had not done in too long—attend a conference as a participant not as a presenter. I love attending conferences. I love the energy, the connections, and I’ve known for a long time conferences often produce major if not lifechanging ideas. When I attend the conference as a speaker, I try to attend several of the events. However, my focus is always on sizing up the audience, gauging what they know and what they need to know. I need to get a feeling for the room, the acoustics, lighting and all those other things speakers need to take into account. A client, Mike Ross, introduced me to Sterling Shea, Managing Director at Barron’s. Sterling has run the “Barron’s 1000” program ever since Barron’s bought the “Winner’s Circle” from Robert Shook ten years ago. Sterling invited me to attend the “Barron’s Team Conference” as his guest. What’s not to like about that? I jiggled my schedule and showed up in Orlando last Wednesday afternoon. This time, I just went as an attendee. It was a terrific conference with a blend of inspirational and nuts-and-bolts “how to” speakers. As the keynote speech unfolded, I realized I have a certain way of maximizing the results I get attending a conference. I decided to write an article on “How to Attend a Conference.” It should publish in Research Magazine and on the ThinkAdvisor® website in April. I will certainly let you know when it publishes. Here is a preview.
Serendipity At a conference, I am looking for “serendipity.” The dictionaries tell us that serendipity is “luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for.” Since I am definitely looking for “valuable or pleasant things” perhaps serendipity
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is the wrong term for what I am looking for. Nevertheless, I typically find it at a conference. There are just certain things I do to stir the pot. Serendipity sometimes piles on with an AHA! The clouds part. Sunlight streams in. Harps play. These moments can be life-changing. Sometimes serendipity is just there. One second it’s not. Then the next it is. If your attention is elsewhere, you can miss it. (I never cease to be amazed that some conference attendees sit in the back, leave easily, or worse, send countless text messages. For serendipity to visit, you have to be at the conference, not your office or home.) For me, and probably for you, conferences can be breeding grounds of serendipity. “Why on earth?” you wonder. I have asked myself the same question. I have some answers that may make sense to you. Part of the reason has to do with an insight I gained from the keynote speaker.
The Serendipity Formula The first thing I do at a conference is take copious notes. Sometimes serendipity will visit when I review notes. But I have to be able to read the notes. As my team knows, handwriting is an issue for me. And I need the notes to be complete. I am certainly not trying to do stenographic recording. Rather, I am at least trying to get an outline of all the topics covered. So I might only have a word or two for each topic. These notes mean something for about 24 hours. As quickly as possible, I need to get off in a corner and dictate a summary of each of the speakers. My tool of choice, of course, is Copytalk®. When I do this dictation, I don’t edit, I just dictate whatever comes to mind by looking at my notes. After the conference, I review the transcripts, add additional recollections, and put these in a “Conference” folder in my laptop. Here’s an example. The keynote speaker was Tony Hsieh. Probably his biggest claim to fame (so far) is that he sold Zappos to Amazon for $1.2 billion. His talk was fascinating. I am filling pages in my notebook. He has put up $350 million to re-invent the area around Zappos® new headquarters, the old Las Vegas City Hall. 2
His operating basis is that chance encounters (which he calls “collisions”) spark innovation. To build a city in which these collisions occur, Mr. Hsieh (pronounced shay) is providing seed capital to small businesses who will locate in the several blocks around Zappos. He is pulling a population of young entrepreneurs in a city of his own creation where these collisions can occur. He is actually conceiving the city as a startup! In the process, he has re-thought the old tired failing concept of “urban renewal.” Somewhere in Tony’s talk, serendipity whispered to me. I better understood why conferences are so conducive to new ideas. It’s the collisions. The more the better. I added a piece to my conference routine. For years, I have made it a practice to visit as many vendors at a conference as possible. These encounters would be collisions, correct? I decided that I would collide more. While Tony quickly made his exit, I introduced myself to all the remaining speakers. That lead to a bigger gust of serendipity—I snagged a speaker for our upcoming Users' Conference—Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?
Being Open to Serendipity Here’s my personal formula. 1) Attend all the meetings. Sit in front. Take copious notes. Turn off your phone. 2) Improve on the notes by dictating them as soon as possible. 3) Make it a point to sit with people you don’t know. 4) Introduce yourself to all the vendors. 5) Introduce yourself to, and if possible, chat with all the speakers. 6) Be alert. Serendipity is there and will visit.
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