The Adventure Travel World Summit hosted 850 delegates ranging from operators, tourism boards and media in Alaska this past week. It was one of the busiest, but definitely a very fun week of my life. There were key note speeches, break out sessions, product meeting marketplaces, media connections, hosted meals and pub nights. It was also in Anchorage, Alaska - how cool is that? One week with the leaders in the Adventure Travel industry and in Alaska? I would do it again in a heartbeat!
Not one to miss out on an experience, I hopped in with both feet and tried to soak in as much as I could. I think I've learned my lesson. As valuable as everything is, there is just no physical way you can do everything. I suppose you could pass on the evenings out drinking and socializing, but in all honesty, I met some of the best connections at the summit over a pint. They were definitely worth attending.
Conference cough is a running joke, but it's basically when someone gets sick after over-doing it at a conference. I am currently writing this with the dreaded conference cough. Here is what I did wrong, and my open letter to myself to do better next time.
Dear Amanda,
Great to hear you're going to another conference. Remember how much fun you had at the ATWS in 2016? Such great times. Remember how terrible you felt afterwards? Yeah, that's right. Try to avoid that next time and remember the things you wanted to tell future you immediately when you returned home.
Do arrive early
Arrive to the conference or event a day or so early, so you have a bit of time to adjust to the time zone. Alaska is 4 hours behind Toronto, which is a pretty significant difference for such a short trip. Getting as much sleep as possible is key to surviving the conference, so catch those zzz's any chance you get! Even if it means eating "dinner" at 3:30pm and falling asleep before 7:30pm the day before. No biggie!
Do drink a lot of water
You're usually pretty good at this, so I'll just remind you to stay hydrated and actually bring a water bottle with you to the sessions. Those little tiny cups of water (practically shot glasses in my opinion) do not cut it.
Do eat well
It is extremely tempting to indulge on the mid-session snacks, and the multiple desserts per day. You do not need a dessert at lunch...(but I wannnnnnnaaaaaa). But you also want to be able to do up your jeans....ain't that the truth. Eating the green stuff does really help keep everything in check.
Do go to sleep
Sleep is the key to staying healthy and surviving any event or conference. Make sure you get more than 3 hours a night, OK? Even if you think you can manage through the day, when people run at the sight of your face, it's probably a good idea to invest in some more hours of shut-eye.
Do try and limit your alcohol
When you think that drinking conference booze is a good idea, sometimes you are right. When you think this after 12am, you are wrong.
Do live it up
As much as all of the above points are super important, don't forget to enjoy and be in the moment.
What are some of the craziest conferences you've been to? Did you ever get the "conference cough"?