Conference Season – Should you go?

Matthew Furlong

Conference season is upon us.

And you’re probably debating whether you have time to go to one in your busy work week.

Well, some interesting data came from Shawn Achor’s book, The Happiness Advantage, which suggests that you probably should. Go – that is.

In his book, he referenced a study of 2,600 working women who attended various conferences for Women. He compared data from this group to a control group of women registered for a conference but had not yet attended the conference.

He found that 42% of the women who attended the conference received a promotion in the first year. While only 18% of the women who had not yet attended a conference received a promotion.

Additionally, he found that 15% of the women who attended the conference received a raise of 10% or more compared to 5% who had not yet attended a conference.

Lastly, women who attended the conference suggested they felt “more connected” and “more optimistic about their future.”

What conclusions can you draw from this?

Probably not many, but if you are on the fence about whether you should go to one or not – why? The odds for a promotion/and or raise will be in your favor if you go to a conference, walk away feeling exhilarated, and push your limits. And because the promotions and the raises are usually symptoms of some larger, better, more awesome behavior – why are you still debating this?

Just register already.

One thing, however. And this is not intended to distract you from registering for the next conference, but you need to know this. It is very common to suffer from imposter syndrome due to attending sessions with the best and brightest in the field. That does not mean you should not go. That just means you should be prepared that it’s common to feel “less than,” and you will likely need to fight this internal battle.