What You Must Take to a Conference

Every time I go to a piano pedagogy conference, there are several times during the conference that I think, “I MUST remember to bring that next time!” But alas, I don’t usually write it down and soon forget that list of must-haves or must-takes.

So in an attempt to break this cycle, I am starting my list before the conference and will add to it as I go. Here is my current list of things that you must take to a conference. I’d love to know what I’m forgetting or what youthink you must take.

• Business cards – for connecting with the many new teachers you will meet. 
• A rolling laptop bag – Even if you don’t have a laptop, you’ll want a bag small enough to put your purse, snacks, free music, and purchased items in. I get a huge shoulder and neck ache schlepping around a purse, laptop, bag of freebies, etc.
• A flattened flat rate box from the USPS (maybe…I’ve heard that the hotel may charge extra for shipping things)- This is a new idea that I’m trying out this year. But, if you’ll go to the USPS website, you can order some free flat rate boxes in which you can ship all those books you’ll buy or get for free. On the last day of the conference, put your box together, pack it, log in to the USPS website and request a pickup, and then you won’t get assessed an extra $50 fee at the airport because your bag weighs more than 50 lbs! This happened to me one year and resulted in me throwing away books at the airport! I haven’t done this before but have heard from other teachers that it works.
• Snacks and breakfasty foods – Even if you don’t plan to go “on the cheap,” it’s nice to not have to get up extra early to get to a restaurant for breakfast or order expensive room service if you get hungry. One year, I really needed to travel cheaply, so I bought those individual hickory smoked tuna packets from Starkist with some crackers for my lunch. It was nice that I didn’t need to keep it cool. As an aside, if you are attending NCKP, then there is a Target right next to the hotel, so you can forget about packing snacks and just go to Target to pick them up after you arrive. (Also note: they don’t serve coffee at the conference, but the Target next door is rumored to have Starbucks.)
• Mailing labels – Natalie from Music Matters Blog mentioned this idea a number of years ago. You know those coupon books you get from publishers which you can fill out and turn in for a new piece of sheet music or a special drawing? Well, you can save a lot of time by printing out mailing labels ahead of time with your name, address, email, phone number, and website and then sticking those labels on your coupons instead of filling each one out.
• A collapsable bag – This tip comes from Diane Hidy whose website is a must read for any teacher! If you really plan on buying a lot at the conference or the touristy stops close to the conference, you might consider bringing a collapsable duffel bag in order to send home on the plane with you.
• Texting/Phone numbers – You’ll want to be able to easily find your friends at the conference.
• FB page and Twitter Hashtags – If you need to find out the latest from the conference, most conferences are now using FB and Twitter hashtags so that you can find information easily. For example, the FB hashtag for NCKP 2013 is #NCKP2013 and you can put that into your FB search bar and find all the posts that have been tagged with that hashtag. I anticipate that important announcements will be posted in this way. You should also know the FB page name and Twitter name of the people or organizations with which you want to connect to be alerted to changes. For example, if I need to make a change to the ComposeCreate® dinner at NCKP 2013, I’ll put it on my FB page. So you’ll want to follow: https://www.facebook.com/ComposeCreate®. My Twitter name is @ComposeCreate.
• Cash – I pay for almost everything with my credit card, but you do need cash to tip your shuttle service, the bellhop, and purchase some items in the exhibit hall.
• Sweater and comfortable shoes – Conference centers tend to err on the side of too cold rather than too hot. So, if you get cold easily, you’ll want to bring a sweater even in the middle of the summer. Comfortable shoes are a must!
• Conference Schedule – Though you’ll get a printed schedule at the conference, sometimes it’s helpful to know what sessions you absolutely want to attend and when you’ll have free time to connect with colleagues. I love that the conference schedule for NCKP is posted on their website. If you have an iPad, you can download it, send it to yourself via email, tap and hold the link to open it in iBooks. I personally like to open mine in Notability so that I can actually write on and highlight it. It’s nice to be able to look through the schedule and plan my day on the plane!
• Laptop, ipad, etc. – Internet access is free to NCKP attendees because our wonderful committee has negotiated this on our behalf (it’s usually $9.95 per 24 hours).

So what do you consider to be “must takes” to a conference?

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