Okay, let's get serious here for a bit.
Whenever I've been asked to speak--from professional conferences to Fortune 500 companies--the time on stage is only part of the commitment.
The other part is the courtesy paid to those engaging you, an "over and above" ranging in everything from having dinner with upper management the night before to hanging out after the speech to answer questions and sign books. All in all though, it's quite gratifying compared to the alternative...being ignored.
At last week's MDS Nordion speech, the "over and above" cordiality was to spend four-and-a-half hours amongst its staff, learning its 2008 direction and objectives.
At first glance, that's quite the ask; I have enough problems sitting through a half day of my OWN company's meetings, never mind those of a company way beyond my intellectual stratosphere.
But at the end of the day (which I mean literally, not figuratively), I was quite grateful. I learned a whole lot about nuclear medicine, personal medicine, high-tech cancer treatments, molecular imaging and (ouch!) sterilization. I'd tell you more, but I'm under the NDA they made me sign (I'm not kidding here).
Point here is, while it sounds like a cliché, there are big benefits to be gained by stepping out of your box and stepping into the unknown, the un-understood, the un-comfort zone.
Fact is that even though I attend the two CTIA conferences every year to keep up on what's going on in my industry, I learn a whole lot more--and, more importantly, open up way more business opportunities--when I'm at conferences UNRELATED to my day-to-day biz (like the Sports Biz conf in New York, the Cable TV conf in Toronto or the CaseCamp I attended last year, that spawned not just this blog, but my fascination with Surprise marketing).
So while I know that we're all overloaded, and it's tough to stay on top of what goes on in our own chosen fields, trust me, it'll pay major dividends to open up your horizons and take in a conference, a speech or a lecture that is so far away from your day-to-day.
At best, you'll come away with new knowledge and open doors.
At worst, you can at least work it out and get to sit next to someone cute.