How to Achieve Your Goals at a Biopharma Conference

by | Aug 29, 2019 | China Focus

Conferences can be an excellent opportunity to learn, connect with investors or colleagues, and gain inspiration in any industry; however, they can also be very challenging events to be able to fit in everything you want to get done. You need a way to be able to achieve all your goals in a biopharma conference so that you aren’t wasting precious time. So how do you achieve your goals? The best way is to know the purpose of biopharma conferences, and how to manage your time correctly; know who to focus your attention on for making connections. Planning is always vital to achieving your goals; know your goals, and write down everything you’ll need to do to obtain them.

Purpose of Conferences

Conferences are held by companies as a way to showcase new technologies, share ideas and research throughout the industry, and to network and open lanes of communication between people within an industry. By knowing what conferences are for you can start to decide your goals for a biopharma conference, whether it is focusing on getting new connections, or expanding your knowledge in a certain topic being covered by panels, or talks within the conference; or a combination.

Setting Your Goals

Choosing goals can be a challenge, especially if the biopharma conference you are attending has a lot of options for you. First thing you should be doing is researching the biopharma conference you are going to; find out who may be speaking there, the list of panel topics being covered, and if any major players in the industry are going to be in attendance. Is the biopharma conference going to be one that will help you develop connections in the industry, or is it one that is going to help you further develop your skills, or job prospects in the industry?

Planning to Achieve Goals

Once you know the program for the biopharma conference (which is often made available through the conference website), and who is going to be there, you’ll need to make a plan of which sessions you will attend, and who you want to meet. Make a detailed list of who you want to meet if you can find out, and whether they are speakers or exhibitors at the conference. You need to have a clear schedule and know that schedule so that you aren’t wasting time trying to figure out which speaker to see and where to find them.

Meeting With People Effectively

If one of your goals is to network with people within the biopharma industry, and you know who is going to be there and plan to meet with some of those people, you need to be ready for conversations. Research relevant subject matter to discuss so you are conversational enough to build your network connections. Having questions ready beforehand to ask can also help you converse with key people; always be handing out business cards after conversations. Get to sessions early so that you can see all the visuals and take useful notes.

Taking Advantage of 1-on-1 Meetings

There is a huge advantage to the 1-on-1 meeting where you have the full interest of the other party, and where you can ask and answer questions directly. To make the most of such a meeting, schedule it ahead of time. This gives you both time to find a mutually agreeable time and location to meet, ensuring you make that connection before the conference is over. China Focus forums allow guests to schedule meetings online; once one party sets the meeting, the other guest can confirm the time or request a new time slot.

Follow Up

Once everything is said and done, and the biopharma conference is over, be sure to follow up with those that you made connections with, and track the goals you had for the biopharma conference. Email and LinkedIn are great tools to keep in touch with contacts made.