I’ve been to hundreds of education events as a speaker and/or attendee, and I think that has given me a different view of how you might want to attend a conference.
⚠️ First, I honestly would not recommend going to conferences.
Conferences are overwhelming. They leave teachers with more work. The organizers don’t preview the talks beforehand. They don’t work with the speakers. So the quality is often quite low. Heck, you won’t even know if the person giving the talk has done the thing they’re talking about!
Instead, I’d recommend watching actual teachers actually teach. That’s how I learned everything I know. Almost!
But, if you are set on going to an education conference, here’s my advice.
Have A Purpose
First, consider what is the problem you want to solve by attending this conference in the first place?
Sounds silly, right? But this was not something I ever asked myself when first going to conferences. Unsurprisingly, I left with no problems solved!
In fact, quite the opposite happened! Going to a conference without a clear purpose means you’ll walk away with new problems!
What!?
It’s true! When I left most conferences, I always had a bunch of new things I felt like I should be doing. Each presenter made me feel increasingly worse about myself because they all sounded so great!
Attending a conference is like going shopping. If you go with a purpose, you’ll walk out with what you needed. If you just sorta “go shopping”, you end up with random stuff that looked interesting in the moment but will just end up on a shelf forever.
So, consider what problem you want to solve.
You might even realize that the best way to solve your problem is to skip some sessions, sit in a hallway, and plan your upcoming unit! Heck, you might even want to skip the conference altogether.
Speakers, Not Topics
A nearly universal truth: pick speakers, not topics.
After sitting through hundreds of disappointing sessions, I’d rather see a great speaker talk about something unrelated to my needs than a poor or unprepared speaker address a highly relevant topic.
Of course, the problem is, if you’re new, you have no idea who is worth seeing! Few conference planners address this issue, so you’ll need to do it yourself.
Consider asking folks who have been to the conference before, “Hey, who are the unmissable presenters at this event?” Believe me, people will know who the good presenters are! They’ll be lining up early to try to get a spot in that session.
As a first-year teacher, my boss actually planned my first conference schedule for me. She steered me away from famous academics and towards people who had real experience. This was brilliant! I would have ended up in the weeds if I had made my own choices.
You Do You!
Take breaks and skip sessions. Many conferences are way too packed. They aim for quantity over quality (again, they do not preview the talks – even the keynote!). You’ll spend the day rushing around, trying to find rooms, trying to get a seat, trying to pick the right session.
It’s absolutely exhausting. The best events have lots of free time built in to interact with colleagues, chat with presenters, and maintain a balance of input and processing time. If the event you’re attending is too packed, skip some sessions, relax, and take a bit of time to think.
Processing Is Better Than Input. You could go to 1,000 wonderful sessions, but if you never take the time to process those ideas, you’ll never use them in your classroom! Because, honestly, once the next week starts, you will never revisit your conference notes again!
So, after leaving a great presentation, I’d skip the next session, find a comfy seat somewhere, and figure out what I wanted to do with the ideas I had just heard. Taking an hour to process one idea is a better use of your time than getting more ideas that you’ll never process.
Leave any session that is not going how you thought it would! Yes, you will feel a moment of discomfort as you walk out and push the door open. But this conference was expensive, and your opportunities are limited. Do not sit through a bad talk!
As a presenter, I’d start by saying, “Feel free to leave if this isn’t the session for you!” I’ve even had people tell me later, “Once I saw you leave that session, I left too. It was so bad!” So you might even inspire other people to seek out better sessions!
Miscellaneous Tips
Titles and Descriptions Lie (Sometimes) This is a dirty little secret of conferences: written descriptions are due months before speakers even start planning their talks. As a result, many sessions aren’t about what they say they’ll be about because the speaker changed their mind once they started, you know, actually planning the talk.
See speakers who give the same talk multiple times. It is really hard to give a great presentation the first time through. Even as a professional, the debut of any new talk was always rough. And, frankly, most presenters don’t even practice their talk one time. Sitting through a first-time talk is like attending the first rehearsal of a play where the actors are still holding their scrips. Try to find speakers who are giving a talk for, like, the 10th time.
But beware professionals! Professional speakers (like myself) are very good on stage. We have had years and years of practice. We know the perfect stories and jokes. We know which slides will make everyone take a photo. But we are also years and years removed from teaching in classrooms. This can lead to a lot of sizzle and no steak. Always ask yourself: has this person actually done the thing they are talking about?
The more local the conference, the better. Smaller, more local events will more clearly target your particular needs. You’ll be less overwhelmed by the size of the venue, the parking will be easier, the whole thing will be cheaper, and you will have a simpler menu of sessions to pick from. Bigger events are rarely better.