Amy Turner
4 min read
With a programme full of key speakers, the Employee Benefits Live trade show is a great opportunity to hear about the latest innovations and to network with industry peers.
To get the most out of the event you need to understand what you are hoping to learn. Identify which areas of your business or job role you need to focus on. Is there a key area that needs a refresh? What new technology is available to help you engage your workforce? Make a list of questions that you hope to answer, this will help you navigate your way around the event.
Be Prepared.
Make sure you read through the agenda in advance. Take a look at the list of exhibitors and look for articles or blogs that they have written. This will help give you an idea of what their company is like and will help you decide if they are worth going to talk to.
Check the timings and locations of presentations and stands to ensure you can turn up on time and know where you are going.
The Conference.
The conference offers two days of presentations with inspiring headline keynotes. Look at the schedule and sign up to talks that you think will be relevant to you. Look up the presenters, find out what else they have done in the past, this will give you an idea of their presenting style and whether or not it will be something that will appeal to you. You may also find links to other interesting and relevant content.
On Wednesday 24th September, Theatre 3 is dedicated to health and wellbeing, a topic that is really high on our agenda at the moment and I think is well worth checking out. There are 3 talks over the day, one focusing on the ageing workforce and another looking at mental health issues and wellness. The afternoon closes with ‘Placing Prevention At the Heart of Employee Health and Wellbeing’ which looks at developing a holistic and preventative approach to wellbeing and how it should be built into corporate strategies going forward.
Other sessions worth a mention include the keynote speaker Mervyn Dinnen on Thursday 25th who presents ‘Social Media as a Tool to Attract and Retain Talent’, this will offer valuable insight to any HR professionals who use Social Media or want to introduce it. I have already reached out to Mervyn about this talk on twitter and am really excited to hear what he has to say.
You can view the full conference schedule here.
Be Social.
Follow Employee Benefits Live on Twitter, plus any key speakers or providers you wish to engage with. This is a great way to keep up to date with any developments on the day.
Last year Reward Gateway used the event to announce a company wide re-brand with a surprise flash mob; resulting in a surge of news, images and video content across social media channels. Make sure you stay in touch with what’s happening by joining the conversation online.
Share your experiences and opinions and don’t be afraid to challenge the ideas of presenters, it’s a great way to start conversations and to expand your online social network.
Networking.
EB Live is a fantastic networking opportunity, it’s very rare to have so many reward and benefits professionals in one room, so make the most of the opportunity. If there is someone you have been trying to get a meeting with, reach out to them to see if they will be attending, suggest a chat or a coffee at the event.
If there are two presentations running simultaneously, arrange with a peer or colleague to each take one and to swap notes. It’s a really easy way to strengthen relationships and gain as much knowledge from the event as possible.
Talk to strangers. Don’t be afraid to talk to the person sitting next to you, or waiting in the in queue next you. A lot of people will travel to the event on their own, everyone there has something in common - employee benefits. We will all have a different experience of EB Live so it’s always beneficial to talk to other people about what they have seen and heard. They may point you in the direction of a hidden gem or warn you off the time wasters.
Are you going to EB Live this year? Tell us what you're hoping to get out of it and share your thoughts in the comments below.