As inspiring as conferences are, it's easy to get right back into daily routines when we return from even the best events. One of the ways that I would suggest to prevent that is by spending time organizing your notes from the event right away.
Here are the ways that I organize conference notes. I typically go back through all of my notes and highlight these things in multiple colors, then make separate lists based on the following categories:
Actions/Takeaways
Personal/career
- Blog Post ideas. Start writing.
- Portfolio enhancement ideas (example, the recent conference I attended reminded me to include business results from my design work)
- Mentorship /Leadership ideas. Partnerships.
- Project Ideas - Write plans
- Career or Job opportunities (if you went looking for something new)
Team/company
- Set up a debrief meeting with your peers. This doesn't have to be fancy or formal. Work on action steps to implement things learned in your own way.
Research / Learn More
- Things that will inspire you. Learn from and share them.
- Companies that are doing great things
- Theories, Ideas and Concepts peers are practicing
- Groups to join
- Projects that inspire
- Resources to download and share.
- Books - add directly to Amazon lists
Connections
- Follow up and offer yourself as a resource. Provide value, sincerity, and don’t ask for anything in return.
- If you have specific goals (such as landing a job with a contact you made) begin the tasks to accomplish that right away.
Reminders
- Rate sessions
- Consider working a future event from what you've learned
- Get slides from missed sessions or for more info
- Don't forget notes from the photos you took of slides
So is there a term for taking pictures of slides in a presentation? Surprisingly, googling "slide snapping" turns up nothing. #uxpa2015
— Steve Krug (@skrug) June 24, 2015