As I wrote in my last post (https://owntrepreneurship.com/2016/02/07/how-to-makes-conferences-less-painful/), conferences can be a pain. But if you’re lucky enough to travel to one as part of a team you could potentially have more fun.

But make no mistake, in order to have fun and avoid constant bickering, please consider the following tips:

1. Effective communication
   It’s hard to keep everyone in sync with what’s going on during a conference- one person wants to attend a keynote, the other to walk the halls, third just scheduled an appointment with a potential customer at the café. But wait- who’s manning the booth?? Afterhours can also be challenging- some want to rest at the hotel, other to eat, other to party and others have to prepare for the next day. Just arranging a joint meal could be a strenuous ordeal. To avoid mishaps and facilitate coordination, make sure you update everyone, all the time. Luckily this is easier today than ever- just create a WhatsApp group for all members of the team, and use it to communicate. In addition, make sure everyone has the contact numbers of the organizers, booth builder, IT technician and anyone else you might need in a hurry.
2. Sharing the load
   Some people work harder than others at conferences- people whose job is to stand at the booth (Mainly marketing folks) all day long are not in for a treat. Sales and business development people walk around, sit for meetings at coffee shops and sometime shoot off to offsite meetings. Make a schedule where everyone is committed to spend some time at the booth, and make sure no one has to stand there all day every day of the event. Same goes for booth building and dismantling and packing. Making it a team effort and the people tasked with it will thank you for making their lives easier.
3. Having fun by gamifying
   Ok, so you are forced to spend 3 days in a huge hall with multiple people. You can never wander off too far or for too long, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have any fun. Create a group challenge- see how brings back the most giveaways, or the most silly/ ugly/useless one. take photos for future use. Or better still, see how many cool giveaways you can collect for the guys back home. Which leads to my last point-
4. Don’t forget your back-office
   Surely there are people back home supporting you- the office admin who made the travel arrangements for you, your tech guys on call to support you and even your marketing guy who’s doing social media buzz from remote. Be kind and bring back home something for them. Even the smallest gift (which is something you take from another vendor booth anyway) could go a long way in thanking someone.

Keep these simple rules and fun (or at least a more productive time) is guaranteed.