MicroConf US25 - NOLA - Takeaways and Additional Shoutouts (Part 4)

Takeaways

  1. MicroConf is by far the best conference I’ve ever been to. Rob and team have really dialed in the hallway-track-to-speaker time ratio.
  2. You get what you put into it. Be open. Say yes. I missed out on a dinner that I should have said yes to. Sure I was exhausted, but the relationship building from it would have been more valuable than the extra 30-60 minutes of sleep I would have gotten.
  3. It’s easy to get caught up trying to spend time with existing friends or online people you know and want to meet. Quite honestly, it was the totally random people (like Jaakko, Paul and Nick) that I’m even more grateful for having met.
  4. Don’t sell. Just share. MicroConf isn’t a place to sell. But I bet a lot of sales happened during those days. People value authentic stories. I didn’t go there to make any sales. But I wouldn’t be surprised if the relationships that got formed there eventually result in new opportunities and valuable deals.
  5. Don’t plan on doing any meaningful work while at MicroConf. Your job while you’re there is the conference. Network. Build relationships. Take in as much as you can from the talks and experiences.
  6. Don’t be afraid to use emotion in your copy. Especially for stuffy industries (like accounting). It helps show that there are real people and that you get that they are real people. And emotions are how we grab people and get their attention.
  7. Don’t sleep on LinkedIn. It’s the social network that we are all on but everyone loves to hate. It’s a great way to connect with your customers, especially when they are in “boring” industries (like accounting).
  8. Don’t try to do this alone. There’s always someone who’s been there before you. Sure their situation is unique, but there’s plenty that you can learn.
  9. Don’t avoid understanding your own story, especially with money. Until you are aware of your biases, they can easily sneak up on you and sabotage things.

Additional Shoutouts

In addition to everyone I mentioned throughout these posts, here are some additional people I met and want to make sure I acknowledge:

If we chatted and I missed you in these posts, my apologies, but please let me know and I'll get you added.

If you missed the other posts: