|
Where
can you go to upgrade your knowledge, polish your networking skills,
learn of emerging market trends and mindsets, and more often than
not, have a good time at the company's expense?
A conference, of course!
You name it, there's a meet for it.
India Travel Summit. Nasscom 2002. All India
Marble Manufacturers Conference. IT-Enabled Services Meet. India
Internet World 2002 (Okay, you're not likely to see that for a while).
These days, a conference is on somewhere, sometime,
all the time, at the drop of every proverbial hat, so finding one
should not be a problem. But for the same reasons, choosing the
right one surely will.
|
MAKING MOST OF CONFERENCES
|
Homework: Do basic background
work on the theme of the conference. Doesn't make sense to sit
through everything and then realise, "Oh, so that was what
it was all about!"
Choose to cruise: Go to
the conference that is relevant to your profession. If you are
a finance expert, don't go to TRAVEL 2002. At least don't whine
afterwards that you got nothing out of it.
Hop, skip, jump: In case
of day-long drills that start from seven in the morning and
end at 11 in the night, skip sessions that mean nothing to you.
Or else you might just feel too tired by the evening, when all
the action takes place.
You are my Sonia: Switch off your mobile
phone, or at least set it to the silent mode, inside the conference
room.
Clockwork orange: Try to
be punctual, especially if you are the speaker. Being late might
be fashionable, but it also speaks volumes about your time-management
skills.
Riddle me this: Be prepared for a tough
Q&A session, after you have spoken. Be absolutely clear
and thorough with what you are saying.
Judge dread: Don't think you are on a
company-paid holiday. You are being watched and judged constantly
by peers, headhunters, and even the media.
Déjà vu: If you have been
asked to speak, clearly understand what aspect of the theme
you should tackle to avoid saying the same thing as Mr Thyagaraja
next to you.
Royal challenge: Socialise and drink,
if you want to. But just as much as not to make a fool out of
yourself.
Rain check: As a back-up plan, in case
the conference is a damper, take some books and music along. |
Most of the times, the area where novice conference-goers
trip up, is in drawing up their list of criteria. Is the theme of
the conference relevant to your profession? Business conferences
are not music fests. Your company is (hopefully) paying good money,
and is also losing money on the amount of work not being done while
you are away. The aim, therefore, is for you to learn valuable lessons,
return, and impart to your lesser fortunate brethren. If the theme
has nothing to do with your area of work, neither you nor your company
will benefit. Going through the contents in the booklet that is
provided along with the invite should help.
Once you decide on your true calling, do some
background work. This will not only help you to have a better grasp
of whatever will be discussed, but also give you an edge over the
others. The theme might seem to be right up your alley, but compare
the shelf life of your knowledge with that of your PC's. Both are
here today, gone later today. And it does no harm to fine-tune your
learning, does it?
Next comes the speaker. Big names draw big
crowds. So if William Henry Gates wishes to speak his mind, your
enthusiasm to attend is understandable. But how does a rookie conference-goer
evaluate lesser mortals? By making some clever inquiries and getting
to know the speaker profiles like your bank balance.
A lot of people think that conferences are
like Mafia weddings. You build and strengthen your network-and finito.
They are not altogether wrong. Start making your contacts early.
If you don't know who that hotshot is, ask the people around you.
Fix up meetings with executives and catch up on industry gossip.
In one word-socialise!
Don't forget conference etiquette. Try to be
punctual. It speaks much more about you than you can imagine and
certainly helps you to stand out in your peer group. Don't take
reading material with you inside the conference room. Worse still,
don't read while someone is trying to make a point. Even if you
feel bored try not to show it.
And don't forget style, smoothness, pizzazz
and charisma when you walk into the room. Think Bond, James Bond.
Your company will not regret it.
|
TREADMILL
|
Finding The Inner Will
Just look around you. The average
person you see-on the streets, in elevators, at office-is
out of shape. Either downright obese or pot-bellied and undermuscled.
To make things worse, people have bad postures-they slouch
or hunch their shoulders or have a lousy gait when they walk.
Have you noticed how badly the average adult runs? Or how
badly most people climb the stairs?
Now ask the average person whether it was always like this
for him or her and the answer in most cases will be a wistful
'no'. A friend, now in his forties, made the state rowing
team when he was in college. Today, the waistband label on
his Levis says 42. Pathetic? Yes, but here's why it is so
common. When we're in our teens-why, even till the late 20s-our
bodies perform miracles with ease. We eat anything and it
gets metabolised without a problem. Think of the bottles of
beer you'd polish off in college or the sweets you must have
tucked into. Did they show up around the waist, thighs, or
hips? No way.
But as time goes by and the system slows down, our stomachs
expand and our muscles shrink. Great reserves of energy are
replaced by a pervasive desire to find a comfortable spot
to sit, lie, or rest. Unless, of course, you suddenly wake
up to reality and take your destiny in your own hands. To
some it is a mid-life phenomenon, hitting them around the
mid-thirties. Sometimes it is epiphanic. All of a sudden you
look at yourself in the bathroom mirror and find that skinny
young lad is now a balding, fat, and tired man. Maybe you
can't do anything much about the balding part of that, but
fat? And tired? Of course you can remedy those.
I call it the inner will to improve oneself-inside and outside.
And get back on the right track: eat well and exercise with
discipline. Some rare birds make it not just a habit but a
religion, adhering to workout schedules with the dedication
of monks. You needn't do that. Just make it a hobby and find
space and time to pursue it. It's your life, after all.
Tip of the fortnight: The best way to exercise your calves
is to do two kinds of raises: seated calf raises, as well
as standing raises. That's simply because the calf has two
muscles-one that is targeted by bent raises and the other
by straight raises. Do both and make your legs turn heads!
|
|
