5 Keys to Getting the Most Out of Event Attendance

Attending an event, whether online or in person, is an investment of time and money. It's an investment well worth making to further your professional education, make new personal connections (as well as those that will benefit your organization), and provide a platform to promote your organization and its activities. In order to get approval to spend the time away from daily responsibilities, and to use professional development funding from your organization, you'll need to show how you plan to make the most of your investment of time and money.

Consider these tips as you register for your next event. Continue reading

In-Person Events a “Go” for Government — But Don’t Take Away the Online Option

This May, after the CDC updated their public health guidance around masking and social distancing for vaccinated individuals, GovEvents surveyed its members to find out what government professionals were comfortable with in terms of in-person events. Feedback from event planners at the beginning of 2021 showed they were beginning to plan toward a hybrid event schedule, looking to introduce in-person events in the late summer or fall. Now that schedule seems to be a reality based both on health guidance and attendee attitudes.

The GovEvents survey of 275+ public sector professionals found that nearly 75% of respondents would be comfortable attending an event in-person sometime in 2021.

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An Introvert’s Networking Guide

Whether you are an introvert, an extrovert, or a mix of the two, starting a conversation with a complete stranger is uncomfortable. A small twinge of nerves when kicking off a new introduction is common. While some personalities power through these nerves, or barely notice them, others feel so debilitated they may avoid going to events all together.

Networking can be an important part of growing both professionally and personally. Just as you prepare for important meetings, you need to also prepare for the more casual networking events. Putting in some work ahead of time will help alleviate nerves. We've pulled together a few tips to help anyone get ready for networking opportunities.[Tweet "Just as you prepare for important meetings, you need to prepare for networking events. #GovEventsBlog"] Continue reading

Eight is Great!

This year GovEvents celebrates its eighth anniversary being the premier online resource for government and military events worldwide. GovEvents was created to provide a one-stop-shop for the government community to find the events that aid in their professional development, their organization's mission, and their business goals.

 

We're proud of the growth we've seen over the past eight years, but more importantly, we're thankful to the community that has made it possible. In that spirit, we wanted to provide our "Top 8" list of things you may not have known about GovEvents and the government events market.[Tweet "This year GovEvents celebrates its eighth anniversary . #GovEventsBlog"]

 

#8) When we launched, our team researched and posted approximately 90% of the events on the site. Today, that statistic is flipped with our members posting 90% of the events you see and the GovEvents team filling in the other 10%.

 

#7) Speaking of members, we have more than 80,000 registered members on our site driving the diversity and depth of the information our users have access to.

 

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It’s Not Over ‘Til It’s Over: What To Do After The Event

Return on Investment (ROI). It's a huge priority in buying technology and services. We ask, "How will this solution help us do our jobs faster and more efficiently?" We look for calculations around long-term savings based on an initial outlay of cash. While we are methodical in our ROI calculations for technology development, we're less inclined to look at ROI when it comes to our own professional development. With training oftentimes a volatile line item in budgets, it is important to show the value of these events to employers who are paying for your attendance. Even if you are footing the bill yourself, it's good to know if the money was well spent.

We've written before about how exhibitors can get the most out of their tradeshow investment, but how do attendees ensure they get ROI? We've come up with a couple tips to use as you head into the wave of springtime events.[Tweet "Tips for getting the best ROI as an event attendee. #GovEventsBlog"] Continue reading