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Learn from those who have attended past International AIDS Conferences and receive an orientation to AIDS 2008; get help navigating the conference, learn tips on how to prepare for your presentation, and receive practical information about visiting Mexico, and more.
Aprende de aquellos que han asistido a Conferencias Internacionales de Sida anteriores y que han recibido asesoramiento y orientación para AIDS 2008; busca ayuda para navegar en la Conferencia, aprende consejos útiles para preparar tu presentación y recibe información práctica para visitar México, entre otras cosas.
Networking - how to meet people and make it work! July 9, 2008 @ 02:17 PM
As we all know, the Conference is a great place for networking because you can connect with people doing similar work, build partnerships, promote your work and possibly secure funding for projects, and influence government policy and decision makers.
Networking should start long before the Conference itself. Making local connections with like-minded individuals and organizations is important in order to familiarize yourself with major issues, establish a support system, and even share resources.
Use these discussion boards as a first step!
Here are a few tips for effective networking:
• Prepare networking tools.
o Business cards
o CV or resume
o Materials about your organization
Tips from a Pro: I make notes on people’s cards as I get them to remind myself of the conversation that took place and then I try to spend half an hour each night entering the new names into my contact list and sending a quick email to follow up on the ideas we had shared.
• Know who you want to talk to and what your objective is. Get the names of relevant executive directors, government officials, and media contacts in advance. The internet can be a useful resource for this purpose.
Tips from a Pro: It can be hard to talk with VIPs. The easiest way is to approach them is after their speech. Ask them their opinions on youth participation or youth-specific HIV and AIDS programming. You have a minute at the most, so ask very direct questions. When you engage them in conversation about something they talked about, they are a lot more open to discuss your concerns.
• Avoid approaching people early in the morning, late in the evening, or if they are in the middle of something important.
• Be patient and resourceful. Use different tactics to make contacts: corridor encounters, writing letters, emails or faxes. Be persistent, but not pestering.
Take risks. Approach high-level delegates and negotiators and ask them for a meeting – or coffee.
Ok, that's it for now. How about you - what are your plans for networking? How can we overcome our shyness?
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