This was my second year at the conference. I will be posting all my notes from my various sessions every Monday until I finish. You can see all of them by visiting the Notes category.
That being said, there are some things I have learned about attending.. so here are my notes for next time.
Make sure to bring the badge they mail you so you don’t have to wait in that long registration line for them to reprint you one.
Bring some cash. I didn’t stop at an ATM before I flew out and there were quite a few times I wish I had something.
Expo:
Last Day Discounts. They start offering discounts for the stuff they don’t want to ship home, so if there is an item you like – wait. Unless, there’s something you really want, then get it while you can.
It ends earlier than you think. On the last day people start packing up early. They have to be out of there at a set time.
Check it everyday. Each expo day is different so make sure to check it out daily.
Events
I didn’t attend the night aquarium event because they said it was sold out. So:
1) buy event tickets ahead of time
2) try to attend anyway. I’ll bet if I had showed up with cash for the event I probably could have gotten in (one of the attendees told me there was plenty of room)
Have a list of things you’d like to do in the area. For me, in Atlanta, it was the World of Coke and the aquarium. I checked the hours they were open and stayed another day so I could visit everything.
Contacts:
I gave out lots of business cards. I printed them from Office Depot right before I left.
If you get a card, make sure to quickly write which session you met them so you’ll remember. I didn’t do this.
If people don’t have cards, ask for email addresses, otherwise you are waiting for them to contact you.
Send the presenter a thank you email. They usually have a way to contact them at the end of the session. I’ll bet they love it. 🙂
Take lots of pictures. Usually my wife is the shutterbug when we are out and about. I didn’t end up taking that many when I was by myself and I wish I had.
Food:
Have some quick lunch ideas. I wish I had ordered some soylent. The first day there was only 45 minutes for the lunch break. The next day I attend a session during the lunch break. Fortunately the “lunch session” had some protein bars.
Eat the local food.
I had waffles from the Waffle House because it’s a southern chain. I also made sure to finally try Jumbalaya and fried green tomatoes.
However, most of the time I ate at familiar fast food chains, which although time efficient it wasn’t adventurous.
Sessions:
Make sure to print out your itinerary of the sessions you are interested in. It’s a lot easier than looking it up on your phone all the time or lugging that paper catalog everywhere.
Check the website for a downloadable catalog. These were easier to carry on my kindle fire.
Get the NAEYC app. It gave me alerts all the time for flash sales and reminders when the expo is about to close. It also was supposed to list canceled sessions.
Have a backup session, or two. Just in case one wasn’t what you’d hoped or seems to have a no-show presenter.
Don’t worry about hurting anyone’s feelings. If a session isn’t for you, just go.
If a presenter isn’t there after 5 minutes go to another session. I ended up waiting too long sometimes.
Stuff:
Bring extra phone charging power packs and a water bottle, and extra pens and notebooks for notes.
Also, make sure to have photos to show others of your classroom or space. It’s nice to have. 🙂
Most importantly, have fun!