Enjoy that conference - and Share! Top 10 list.

We have a fantastic mentoring/career counseling system at my current company (as many big time players do) and I am fortunate enough to have a couple of driven individuals who I am responsible for helping shape their destiny.

One of them is headed to the FITC Toronto 2008 Flash conference in Toronto shortly. I've been attending sonferences from the "Industry" side for a while - but it really changes when you get to the agency side in terms of what you should be involved with.

I put together my unsolicited advice on tips for attending a conference based on what I've learned over the last 10 years or so. They are outlined below:

1. Be the guy with the laptop... type up notes as you go. If you hand-write them, it'll take you too long getting unburied to send them out. And it'll be lower priority over project work.
2. If you can, send regular notes to appropriate people during/after each session you attend. Make them short. That'll increase the probability of someone reading them and being able to use them. If you have people on Twitter/etc. Do that as well. Just don't let it distract you from absorbing the content at hand.
3. Ask questions - you're going to have the cream of the crop at your disposal and these people love to spread the knowledge. So give them an opportunity to get to know your interest and deal out the info.
4. Business cards are key - when you meet someone (potential client, smart individual, speaker - whoever) keep a pen with you and jot notes on the back of it. And make it a goal to run out of yours... If you have any left you a) didn't talk to enough people and/or b)didn't enter enough fishbowl contests for iPods.
5. Go to the networking events. Don't be the guy wearing the lampshade at the end of the night, but be cordially aggressive in meeting people. Don't wait to be introduced.Introduce yourself. Engage for several minutes before handing out the biz card... standard stuff. I have actual strategies for this if you're interested.
6. Assume this is the only time you'll see these people ever... Likely not the case, but the more interest you show and contacts you make, the better the chance that you will continue that contact.
7. Ask for downloads - presentations, links, etc. Get collateral to reinforce the message so you can pass it on.
8. Plan your sessions ahead of time. Make a concerted effort to not only hit the things you want to learn about but when items may be of use but not immediately useful... keep them on your radar. On toss-up decisions, refer to number 6.
9. Visit as many booths as you can. Even if it's something you don't care about, there's always carry over to new learning. Capabilities, tools, whatever. If nothing else, you'll be able to tell someone "that won't work because I know what they do" when it's brought up. nowledge is key. I'm notoriously bad at this - and working on it.
10. Sleep - You're gonna need it to let your mind rest between days. The sponge gets saturated and needs it need it's cataloguing time.

So hopefully that gives some insight into things I've learned on attending these conferences. I've been to technical, marketing, operational, search, etc conferences - and these tips have helped me traverse them all and bring back value to those I work with.