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by Colleen Kowalski on April 4, 2022
In the professional advisory world, there are countless conferences you could attend. With so many options to choose from, an issue can arise: Which conference do you attend?
Michael Kitces recently shared his Master List of Financial Advisor Conferences For 2022-2023, which helps narrow the list a bit for professional advisors. However, you still find yourself asking, “Which conference is best for me? How can I possibly choose the right event when they all seem beneficial?”
Instead of asking those questions, we thought we would share 5 questions to ask yourself before selecting which conference you will attend this year.
1. Does This Conference Align With My Goals?
What do you hope to gain from attending a professional conference? Before selecting a conference, you must first determine your personal and professional goals. Perhaps you are looking to advance your skill set in a niche market. Your goal could be to build your confidence in a particular area of your industry.
Without first identifying your goals, you have no system in place to determine the baseline value of any conference on the market. Consider our Five Stages of Value Maturity, in order to build substantial and significant value in your business, you must first identify the risks associated with it and how your business, personal, and financial goals relate.
2. Are The Speakers Thought Leaders in My Field or a Related Field?
Some conferences go for the “shock and awe” impact when selecting their speakers. They believe the more famous the keynote, the better. However entertaining the speakers may seem, what value will they provide to you in your professional advisory practice? Will a star athlete, award-winning actress, or celebrity chef have the knowledge or resources to help your career flourish? Likely, the answer is no.
Look for conferences with big names in your industry with years of experience building their own practice or advancing their client’s businesses. The Exit Planning Summit features an all-star lineup of speakers in the exit planning, business valuation, marketing, and leadership fields.
Meet the Speakers at the 2022 Exit Planning Summit.
3. Are There Valuable Networking Opportunities?
Most conferences offer opportunities for networking, but how valuable are these networking sessions? We have all been to a “networking event” that was really just the constant exchange of business cards. But we never get to know the person whose beautifully designed card now rests in our pocket. Look for conferences that offer not only scheduled breaks for networking but time to collaborate with your peers in meaningful ways.
The addition of case study group work, social gatherings, interactive sessions, and an exhibit hall of industry partners places the Exit Planning Summit on the path towards transformational relationship building, not transactional networking. The Summit connects like-minded advisors with similar goals who are looking to expand their network of trusted referral sources.
4. What is the Conference Schedule?
We have all seen conference websites highlighting the breadth of speakers, sessions, and topics featured at the event. However, upon closer inspection, the five sessions of interest are occurring simultaneously. You might be good at multitasking, but there is no way you can attend two different sessions at once, let alone five.
Look for a conference with an easily navigable schedule of sessions. If there are breakout sessions included in the agenda, look for events that organize the breakouts to ensure the sessions do not compete against each other in terms of scope.
5. Does This Conference Provide Me with Actionable Education?
Perhaps the most important question to ask yourself when researching professional advisor conferences is “What will I gain from this?” Will you exit the conference with actionable items to immediately implement in your practice? Or is the event simply 2-3 days away from your valuable work? We are all guilty of attending a conference, feeling inspired and ready to take action during the sessions. But, then you get home and completely forget everything you learned and continue to go about your everyday life. What was the point of attending the conference if you are not going to learn from it? Conferences are just as at fault for not providing an action plan.
The Exit Planning Summit provides attendees with three days filled with transformational experiences and actionable resources, tools, and education they can use in their business immediately. All advisors and owners who attend the Summit will complete a full 90-Day Action Plan, leave empowered with action items from major sessions, and gain a deep understanding of industry resources from our partners.
April 4 is Scott Snider’s birthday! He has decided to give you all a gift to celebrate. For this week only, you can register for the Exit Planning Summit for only $1295! Use code BIRTHDAY to save $200 on your registration and join us in Scottsdale May 1-3.
The 2022 Exit Planning Summit
We are excited to welcome hundreds of Certified Exit Planning Advisors Sunday, May 1 – Tuesday, May 3, 2022, to Scottsdale, Arizona for a conference where top advisors, their teams, and business owners come to build deep relationships, share unique experiences, and uncover innovative solutions for their business.
The Exit Planning Summit is the coming together of the CEPA Community. The best CEPAs from around the world collaborate with their supporting partners and colleagues that are all helping business owners to create more significant companies. CEPAs will develop new or further current relationships, learn best practices, and advance themselves as advisors. Advisors will leave the Exit Planning Summit not only galvanized to accelerate their practice but with the tools and connections to do so.
Learn more about the Exit Planning Summit and register to reserve your spot today!
