10 Tips to Get Ready for Hispanicize

1. Bring all the necessary tools: If you need help with mobile applications, we invite you to take a look at 10 applications that might be helpful for the conference and choose the ones you might find useful.

2. Review The Sessions: It might help if you familiarize yourself with what each one offers you. Choose a few prior to attending the conference and if you want to stay on track of what is happening, you can download the schedule to iCal (on MAC) from Lanyrd.com for our conference. The founders of @lanyrd activated this feature as a special request as an option to download Hispanicize sessions with just a few clicks. A big thanks to @simonw and @natbat for their help.

3. Connect with people online: Search for our official Hashtag on Twitter #hispz11, see who will be attending, speakers, and what people are talking about online. Creating twitter lists for this event will help you connect with new people.  I have included my personal lists of speakers. If you will be attending or speaking and have not been included in the list, please let me know.

• Attendees
• Speakers

4. Keep the Energy Going: Everytime I go to a conference, I get so involved in learning and connecting with people, I forget to eat or even drink water. With all of the talking you may be doing, make sure you Drink plenty of Water. Keep hands clean and carry hand sanitizer; you will be shaking hands with everyone.

5. Set Goals for the day and make them easy to accomplish. For example:

• Introduce yourself to at least 10 people
• Make a post on one of the sessions
• Meet someone with a different background
• Identify one business opportunity

6. Keep Track of Time: When we are having fun or are wrapped up in conversation, we might lose track of time. If you are speaking make sure you set the appropriate alerts on your devices (electronic reminders are always helpful). If you don’t want to miss out on anything set up your electronic calendars to sync with all devices.

7. Step out of your comfort zone: Participate in a session out of your area of expertise. Learning something new it might spark ideas on some of your current projects.

8. Be Human: I have seen people in conferences running around like programmed robots going from session to session missing out on the hallway conversations and the great people that are at the conference. Take a breather. If you are about to miss a presentation and are having a great conversation with someone, arriving a few minutes later (unless you are the speaker) might not be a bad idea. Remember Relationships are gold and networking should be a priority (at least in my book) for an event like this one.

9. Be Presentable: There are cameras everywhere  and pictures will be posted all over the internet. So make sure you leave your chancletas and rolos at your hotel room. Remember that first impressions and dressing for business, will help you stand out.

10. Back Up Power: Buying an external power device for your cellphone is a good idea. You don’t want to stay stuck to a wall and miss out on networking because your device has no juice left. I personally recommend  a Mophie charger for your iPhone because you don’t have to carry an extra device and its protects your phone. ( Review of the device). There is also an external mobile power pack called the Juice Pack powerstation that appears reliable.But feel free to buy one of your preference.

Any other suggestions or tips on getting ready for Hispanicize? Share them on twitter using the #hispz hashtag and start the tweet with Tip:

Ex. TIP: To save money, bloggers can share a room! #hispz11

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/hispanicize/statuses/53266577721790464″]

photo credit by KaileeCrip