Unlock Your Career at Cvent Connect: 5 Secrets Revealed!

Hey, Jess Hop here. Let's talk a little bit about how you can grow your career at Cvent Connect, whether you're going virtually or in person, just to make a plan and be super intentional about making the most of your experience. So, if you are attending Connect this year, let's talk about things that get overlooked. I want to talk about five ways that you can really maximize and also be intentional with your time when you get on site. So, most people think like if I show up, all of these great things are going to happen. I'm going to have great conversations. I'm going to have a new opportunity. I'm going to have clients. I'm going to have a mentor. I'm going to get a new job or a lead on a job. And all those things are great. However, they do take intention and planning on how you're going to get to those things. So, let's talk about

how we are not going to leave our career go career growth to chance because we want to plan it out and um give ourselves, you know, a successful path to where we want to go. So, first off,

number one is starting with a goal. What is our goal for this event for us? Not for your company, not for your boss, but for you. Um and yes, you can do multiple goals at one time, but right now we're talking about your career growth and your career goal. So, thinking about what would make this event a success for me? Um would it be getting a potential mentor? Would it be learning a new skill in a session? Would it be about building my professional network? Or maybe getting visibil- more visibility in um our industry. So, picking one or two of your top um priorities is going to really help us to craft this plan of getting you where you want to go. So, the second is going to be building

relationships and not transactions. I know as event folks, we are very very aware of this Um and the industry that I mean I love it so much because we are all so relationship focused. One of the biggest mistakes that I see people make at tables or during networking times is asking like, "Oh, where do you work?" or "What's your job?" And we actually get the benefit of being around a lot of people in these industry focused events where we don't have to over explain our job to each other, which is great. So, instead of asking those like very surface level level questions because sometimes folks are in transition with their jobs or you know, they they can't quite answer the like, "Where are you working right now?" Instead focusing on curiosity questions.

What project are you working on right now? Or what's really exciting you in our industry? Or what's a great session that you just attended? All those questions are not just going to like give you a business card or lead you to a very high-level conversations, but it's the goal is about building really genuine relationships with curiosity. The third that I really love doing is

seeking out people who are one step ahead of you. So, try and I know this is difficult and ever, you know, we want to talk to the people in the C-suite, we want to talk to the CEOs, we want to talk to the keynote speakers, but they are consumed with a lot of attention a lot of the time. So, my recommendation is to talk to the the session speakers. speakers. Talk to the folks around you who are in networking opportunities. If you're a manager, talk to directors.

If you're a director, connect with executives. So, asking them like, "What skills helped them advance?" What maybe if they're open to talking about it, what mistakes did they make through the process? Maybe what do they wish they knew earlier? So, when you get a chance to talk to a director, asking these like curiosity questions are going to go so much further than you know, basic where do you work style questions. The fourth

The fourth area or the fourth tactic that I like to use is to make yourself visible or make myself visible. So, career career growth is not just about who you meet, but it's also who remembers you. Asking thoughtful questions, participating in discussions, sharing what you know, or you know, what you've heard in in trending articles. Visibility is not self-promotion, it's participation. So, even if you need to reset your mindset a little bit on that, think of it as you're participating and you're sharing everything that you know on the topic. The fifth

The fifth and final tactic that I really like to use and you know, we tend to forget once we get on site or once we get back to the office from being on site, is to create a follow-up plan. So, let's not think of this as like, I'll do it when I get back, but being very intentional within that first week that you get back, connecting with people on LinkedIn, sending them notes, sending them resources, just following that following up with them in a thoughtful way. Because I know that you've done this and I've done this where you attend an event and you talk to, you know, 20 people and they're like, oh yeah, I'm going to send you a note or I'm going to send you a proposal about that and you just never hear from them again. So, setting yourself apart is really important when the majority of people actually do not follow up when they get back. And just a final thought,

I've always truly believed that your career is built around and through other people. We are all humans, humans hire humans. So, having, you know, authentic conversations, showing up in the communities that you're in, and showing up consistently will just get you so much further. So, don't just attend, be intentional, be curious, be visible, and be yourself. So, I'm excited to see you at Cvent Connect.