Every conference I attend I always find myself trying to decide which breakout sessions to attend.  I always have to choose between two sessions that I want to attend and they occur at the same time. So, besides the obvious choice of going to my session, here is some advice so you will get the most value out of each breakout session you attend.

• Send the presenter an e-mail, tell them what you are interested in and see if their session is good for you.
• Interact. If you are not going to interact then there is no difference between you going to the presentation and you watching a video of a presentation. Ok, that is not 100% true because that would be equivalent to claiming that going to a symphony is the same as watching the symphony on TV.  However, you will gain more value out of the presentation if you come prepared with questions you want to ask or ideas you want to take away.
• Narrow down your plan early. Once you have an idea of the session you want to go to then you will know where the conflicts are.  From those conflicts, you should read the session description and associated blog posts to see if you can figure out which session will give you the most value by attending. Remember, sessions are recorded so you should ask yourself, which session you will interact with.

For example, my session on creating solutions with the Omniture APIs will include interactions and demonstrations that will be most valuable to you if you attend.  Also, after you attend the session you can attend one of the Developer Labs or visit the dedicated Engineering Services room to learn more about what I cover in the breakout session.  So, you can send me an e-mail about what you are interested in and I will see if that fits my breakout session.  You can interact by asking questions, raise your hand when I ask for volunteers or go to the dedicated Engineering Services room after the session to learn more about what I will cover in the breakout session.  Once you know you will gain value from my session you will have part of your plan in place.

One final piece of advice:

• Have fun – If the experience is not pleasurable or you are overly stressed then it will be difficult for you to pay attention to each session.  Not to mention when you are smiling and happy people will want to get to know and you will be able to expand your professional network.

As always, post your comments or e-mail me at PearceA (at) adobe.com.  It is your comments and e-mails that keep me posting and give me ideas for future posts.