It’s like the Superbowl of nonprofit conferences this week! AFP International is happening now in San Diego, and the Nonprofit Technology Conference (NTC) gets the party started in Minneapolis this Thursday. (Not at either? No worries, find thousands of bite-sized learning nuggets on Twitter using the #AFPICon and #13NTC hashtags.)

I’ll be getting my learn on at NTC with thousands of other fabulous tech-savvy nonprofiteers, and I’m looking forward to an awesome week. Not only am I an official member of the Microsoft Citizenship tweet team, I’m also helping the 501 Videos crew film a bunch of smartypants for Movie Mondays.

This will keep me busy enough, but there are still 3 things I’ll make sure to get done while at the conference. Actually, these things are on my do for sure list for any conference I attend:

1. Visit and thank conference exhibitors and sponsors. As a fundraiser, I get how important vendors and sponsors are to any conference program. That conference registration fee you paid? Believe me, it would be a lot of higher if it weren’t for these cool cats. Sure, you might not be in the market for any new services, but don’t forget that these people are experts in their field. Having trouble with your email marketing program? Find some exhibitors, and ask great questions. Don’t miss out on a great learning opportunity because you fear a sales pitch. Lead with curiosity instead.
2. Talk to the person next to you. Tell me if this sounds familiar. You find a chair at a must-attend session, look at the people seated next to you, and quickly bury your face in your smartphone. I’m guilty of this too. But seriously, some of the best conversations and connections happen when you’re willing to introduce yourself to others. My trick is to not ask people, “What do you do?” Instead, I ask, “What’s blowing your hair back lately?” That way we skip the job description and go straight to fun and interesting.
3. Rest. For serious, this is so important. So many times at conferences, we want to be part of the in crowd and do what everyone else is doing. Dinners, coffee meet-ups, cocktail parties—it’s easy to fill your dance card with an overwhelming amount of social activity. After an intense amount of learning, our brains and our bodies need down time. Otherwise, we get overstimulated and distracted. While it’s important to build in time to hang with old and new friends, schedule some breaks to rest and refuel too. (And by breaks, I mean naps—or is that just me?) You’ll be much more interesting to the people you talk with if you’re not yawning, promise.

What is on your conference must do list? I’d love for you share your tip in the comments section. And if you’re at NTC this week, I hope you’ll say hello. I’m super friendly like that and love to meet fabulous, new do-gooders.

Cheeky video bonus! 5 Exhibitor Hall Personalities – Which one are you?

Video produced by funnyman and nonprofit ninja, @nathan_hand.