Every day I receive e-mails inviting me to attend various conferences and training sessions related to social media, marketing, public relations, or all of the above.  Some days the e-mails are so frequent I simply delete them.

My question is– with all the professional development opportunities within the field of communications- how do you determine which events will be most valuable?

Here is my personal filter process to determine which conferences and webinars are worth attending:

• Is the event topic relevant to me?
• Is the topic something I need to learn more about? For example, a training session on a new social network platform would be of more interest to me than one on an established platform that I have experience with.
• Does the event content match my level of experience? Some events are for beginners, some are for experts- make sure you know the difference.
• Have I heard of the speaker(s)? What is their reputation in the space?  Do they have relevant experience on the topic? Have you heard positive reviews of their speaking engagements?
• What is the networking opportunity? Who else will attend the event? Would the opportunity to meet these new people be of value?
• What is the cost of the event? Professional development event costs range from free to thousands of dollars- is the content worth the cost? Are there any extra costs such as travel?

Even after considering all these elements, taking time out of your busy schedule to learn can be a guessing game.  I’ve participated in webinars I thought would be extremely interesting, that passed all my filtering questions, and still ended up offering me very little value.

One of the most important, unpredictable elements I’ve recognized is your fellow attendees.  Workshops can often fall flat if the attendees aren’t engaged or are asking questions that veer the conversation off topic.  Stay engaged and speak up if you feel an important topic hasn’t been covered.

What do you use to evaluate professional development opportunities?  Have you attended any great events lately?

On a related note- Have a conference or training session you really want to attend but can’t for various reasons? Find out the Twitter #hashtag for the event and listen to the key ideas from those who are in attendance!