Knowledge Survival Guide

This is a transcript of episode 77 of Break Point, where Chuck and Lauren gave us their Knowledge Survival Guide.

Transcript

Chuck

To get the most out of a conference like Knowledge, There’s a lot to consider from what you wear to what you bring and even following up afterwards. Get your favorite note-taking tools, because in this episode, Lauren and I talk about some of the things to consider to maximize your value and hopefully convince your organization to send you again next year.

Announcer

Welcome to Break Point, the ServiceNow Developer podcast.

Chuck

Hello, ServiceNow admins, builders, developers and all of you curious individuals that of course I always say with the utmost love and respect. Welcome to our Welcome back to Break Point, the ServiceNow Developer podcast, where we bring you the latest tools, tips and tradecraft to accelerate your career. This one definitely falls into the tips part. I’m joined, as always, by super smart and lovely Lauren Mcmanaman. How are you today, Lauren?

Lauren

Well, I’ve adding those to my title, feeling great now. I’m glad you are as well. It’s great to be here.

Chuck

Started with the alliteration and worked out from there. It was easy to do. In this episode. I’ve got the pleasure of talking to… Well, it’s just us. No guest this time. All right. We have a lot of stuff to talk about. Our Knowledge conference is coming up, and these tips can be used generally for any conference. Well, you will be able to spot the ones that are Knowledge specific. But if you’ve got other conferences to go to keep this in mind, as I mentioned, get your note taking tools ready, whether it’s Evernote or OneNote or a pencil and paper, some e-ink device, you’ll want to make some notes because there’s a lot to take down. And I do want to thank the community for a lot of these tips as well. Carlene had an article, there was a post on LinkedIn by Tim Woodruff that a lot of people contributed to. And I just went, Yeah, that’s a good idea. That’s a good idea. So I’ve been inspired and and Lauren’s thrown in a whole bunch. So this isn’t just a standard list or something you can find. This is our own take on a lot of these, as well as some of the things that we’ve experienced in the past. In fact, I just had a discussion this morning to somebody about business cards, so we’ll get to that. It never ends. It’s coming at us fast, Lauren. So, Lauren, we are we are still as we record this before the Knowledge conference, what are some of the things we should think about before we go?

Lauren

So this is a great topic to start thinking of now because it gives you the opportunity as well to kind of prep and pack for all the amazing content and festivities that the Knowledge week will bring you. Probably the first thing I can think of is getting your tech ready. And by that I mean make sure that you have the Knowledge mobile app installed on your mobile device that will be your primary means of navigating all of the tools for Knowledge. So if you’ve lost your badge, you’re lost in the conference hall, you’ve lost your mind, You need some help, that’s the perfect place to look for resources. In addition to that, I highly, highly, highly suggest you build your agenda. Now, as of recording, the Agenda Builder has already been live for, I believe, a couple of days. So by the time you’re hearing this, it would have been live for quite a while. Start building your schedule because stuff fills up fast. Don’t let the enormity of the conference hall beguile you into thinking that there is an unlimited amount of seats. There is a limited capacity you could always try in the middle of Knowledge to kind of loiter outside if you can, if a session already has to be filled up. But you’d like to have those reserved and ready to go first.

Chuck

So there’s new policy in place. I do want to point this out. You must be in your seat 5 minutes before the session starts because they will start taking overflow people 5 minutes before a session starts. It’s not waiting till after the session started because then people will be missing content. We don’t want that and we don’t want interrupt the speaker and have to rewind to show lab guide QR codes and URLs. You get there early. So if you are registered, please show up 15, 20 minutes ahead to make sure you’re in line and you get butts in seats early because you could be surprised if you get there. Start at the top of the session, say, Hey, it starts at 10 a.m., I’m here at 10 a.m. and you’re blocked. I was registered. You’re late. So 5 minutes till is late. Absolutely. Don’t be late or your seat may be given away.

Lauren

And the reason behind this, too, is to reward the people that show up on time and also not impede the labs. This is predominantly made with the labs in mind because if you’re late, you’re oftentimes missing the reservation instructions for the instances, the prep instructions, maybe the entire monologue that kicks off the lab. So it’s primarily made with that in mind. So please, please be cognizant of that time limit.

Chuck

Yeah. And a lot of the labs do have a lot of content that I personally I’m trying to cram 100 minutes into 90 minutes. So I’m going to be starting on time. Please. Be at my lab on time.

Lauren

Another fun thing that you can do and this is less so a requirement and more just for your own benefit is to start following the hashtag #Know23 either on LinkedIn or on Twitter or hopefully both.

Chuck

K, I got to fix the spelling of that KNOW not just no23.

Lauren

Did I say no?

Chuck

You said know23 which could be confusing. It’s a homonym or a phononym, whatever you call them.

Lauren

Yes. Know as in Knowledge not Know as in NO, because a lot of partners are posting about maybe their upcoming parties and things like that. A lot of people are advocating for their sessions and their expert sessions and things like that. So that can be a nice clue as far as helping you build your agenda as well.

Chuck

Yeah, and if you are posting content, please use that one #Know23. Don’t go off on your own and make up, you know, it’s not Knowledge 23, it’s not K 23. If you’re searching, you may want to search for those people that are not abiding by the standard, but focusing on one hashtag certainly helps. It’s kind of the point of hashtags.

Lauren

Yeah, no kidding. Well, moving on from tech, I think one of the favorite things I like to stress is what to bring with you to Knowledge. Which brings me to probably my most favorite trend of the moment. If any succession fans are out there. There was a great slam on one of the gentlemen appearing at a formal event with his girlfriend who had a, quote, ludicrously capacious bag with her, which was inappropriate for the setting. It is very appropriate for the setting of Knowledge. So, Chuck, what type of advice do you have about what bag to bring to Knowledge?

Chuck

I don’t know what we’re giving away this year in terms of registration things. If it’s a backpack or whatever that’s been done in the past and I know a number of people have their… and they’re very proud of their backpacks from Knowledge 19 or 16 or 17 or how far back you can go. But there will be duplicates. There will be duplicates. So make sure yours is clearly identified. Bring a colorful tag, a violently yellow ribbon or something that you can say that one is mine. Hands off, It’s got my name on it. PII is all important here. I usually just put my name and phone number, not my street address, so someone can steal it and go rob my house at the same time.

Lauren

And if you go my way, which is I just don’t trust using the Knowledge backpack at Knowledge because I’m so fearful of someone snagging it by mistake. Make sure the bag you do bring is not enough just for a laptop which you do have to bring to your labs, but also possibly something like a jacket. The AC is wild in Las Vegas because of how hot it is outside, but also possibly a water bottle. And then, of course, all the swag that you’re packing up from the expo hall and things like that. So just be cognizant of having something that’s pretty sizable.

Chuck

This gets to one of my favorite things that I do for every trip, whether it’s business, pleasure, whatever. I have a unified packing list that I keep in Evernote that has everything I have ever thought of for any trip. And it’s easy to say, No, I don’t need a swimsuit on this trip, but at least it’s on that list. So, yes, you know, I have a list of things. Chargers for every device. You may need markers, you may need a clicker, you may need business cards, you may need, you know, just anything and everything you could possibly want on a trip. Just dump it out of your brain so you’re not running around at the last minute going, Oh, do I have this? Did I remember that? And then you get on the plane or you get to the conference, you go, Oh, I don’t have a way to, you know, charge my watch, you know, because you forgot that. So make sure that you have that list and it will continue to grow and evolve. You know, I no longer need this item because I don’t use that device anymore. Or, hey, I just got a new toy or the doctor prescribed a medication or something that you need to add to that list. Keep that unified list handy. Ya know, certainly, you’re going to Las Vegas. So long underwear probably isn’t on the list. It’s on your unified list, but it’s not on what you need to pack. And if you really want to make yourself feel good, keep a list of what you did pack, so then when you pack it up in the hotel, you don’t forget it. It’s like, Oh, I almost forgot. You know how many times I’ve forgotten a razor or my shampoo bottle in the shower because I didn’t look… it’s like Ugh! Yeah, somewhere in Germany they have one of my razors in somewhere in I think London or New York has some of my shampoo. So yeah, keep that list. You can use it as a repacking list to get home.

Lauren

And keep in mind, too, you’re visiting Las Vegas. It’s like going to New York or London. Everything will be extremely marked up because of the location. So if you do have to purchase a duplicate of something, it’s not going to be for the standard price you’re probably buying it for at home.

Chuck

Power adapters if you’re coming from another country.

Lauren

Absolutely. Here’s a question specifically for you, Chuck, because you live in a desert climate, a lot of people will be visiting a very desert climate for their first time. What do they need to bring that might set them apart from, I don’t know, Kansas or or Dallas, like where I’m from?

Chuck

Water, water, water, water, water. You focus on hydration. It would be deceptively it’ll creep up on you.

Lauren

Even inside.

Chuck

Even inside, because the AC is dehumidifying the air. So it’s, yeah, keep that water bottle handy. I believe we are giving out eco friendly, reusable water bottles and have water stations in various places, so keep that handy. If not, I always bring one of my own just because I prefer mine, you know. And there’s a little bit of prestige going, Hey, I got this ServiceNow water bottle from Knowledge 11 or something.

Lauren

A little of a status symbol. I also have to bring Vaseline. I, I get so dry in Vegas I’m very prone to nosebleeds, which given the amount of presentations I’m doing this year, I definitely want to avoid that.

Chuck

Yeah.

Lauren

It’s also great for, like cracked heels, cracked palms, chapstick, lotion, and then of course, again, the jacket, because the AC is so strong that you’re definitely going to get iced out despite the heat.

Chuck

You don’t need, you know, an Antarctic parka. But, you know, a fleece also works well. You know, one of those Patagonia jobs or some of the MVP’s have their light jackets that we’ve given away in the past few years. Those work really well.

Lauren

Oh, yeah, Big time. Well, what about. So now this brings us to the age old question of “Hey Chuck, how many miles a day, do you usually walk during Knowledge?”

Chuck

My pace is about 2000 steps per mile, and it’s not uncommon to do, for me, 20,000 steps. So I’m like ten miles a day. Yep. Comfortable shoes are a necessity. Now, I know fashion is going to come in. We’ve been told that all of this, you know, wearing colorful dresses and shoes and hats and all this ServiceNow colored stuff. We’re technically cosplaying, people. This is what… I came to that realization this year. I am guilty of it. 100% I found some wonderful, I believe they’re Asics? Yeah. Asics shoes that are not only comfortable but also ServiceNow branded so they’re great and feel great. So make sure that whatever you’re bringing if you’re bringing some brand new cowboy boots.

Lauren

Hey now.

Chuck

Think about that for a second.

Lauren

Are you just picking on the Dallas… Are you just picking on your Dallas site co-host here for that.

Chuck

I’m just saying they need some breaking in before they’re truly comfortable.

Lauren

Or you can do what I do which is I have a designated walking and presenting pair of shoes. There you go. Because I know that I like to look really, really presentable if I’m doing a session or I’m speaking at a keynote, but obviously don’t want to get blisters by making that decision. So I actually have a hard recommendation, which sounds a bit goofy, but the best like compressible walking shoes I have found are croc flip flops. Crocs flip flops are the most durable, comfortable and arch supporting shoes I have found that can compress into like less than like a inch tall. So they’re really good for sliding into like a backpack and they’re very comfortable. So as long as you’re fine with looking kind of like a goober wearing crocs flip flops, I highly recommend them.

Chuck

And sometimes, you can retrofit your old shoes to just go out and get a new pair of cushy insoles, you know, the gels or something new that fits in there. You may have to take the old insoles out if they come out. Otherwise, you could do something with the fitting, but you can reinvigorate those old favorite broken in shoes to whether the dress shoes or trainers or sneakers or tennis shoes, whatever, to give them new life and still feel very, very comfortable because your feet will take a pounding. And if your feet aren’t comfortable, the rest of you is going to feel miserable, too.

Lauren

Amen to that. Well, speaking of comfort, kind of, I guess, now we always bring this up as far as what is all what are all the tools you need in a lab to be comfortable with what you’re doing? I bring this up because every year I’m always kind of surprised by how many people book all these labs, but don’t necessarily have the tools to make their life that easy over the course of those 90 minutes. So, Chuck, what do people need in their bag to make sure labs are going to be smooth sailing.

Chuck

Pencil and paper.

Lauren

Stop. Don’t beguile them into thinking that’s the case.

Chuck

Number 1. A laptop.

Lauren

Yeah, a laptop!

Chuck

You must have a laptop to do a hands on lab. You don’t need it for the breakout sessions. You don’t need it to play Family Feud. You don’t need it to play karaoke. But you do absolutely need that for any hands on labs. If you don’t plan on bringing a laptop, don’t go to any labs or you will just be sitting there watching someone else do something.

Lauren

We joke about this because every year between Chuck and I and our entire team running as many labs as we do, we’re always kind of astounded by how many people don’t think they need to bring laptops.

Chuck

We should probably put that up for the Safe Harbor statement or something.

Lauren

No kidding. But aside from laptops, one thing I can also recommend is that you bring an e-reader, a iPad, or even something like a smartphone if you’re comfortable with the size, because all the guide books for labs will be digital. So you will be needing… you can obviously do that on a laptop as well, but you might have to flip back and forth between the screens a bit more frequently than comfortable if you didn’t have a substitute in your pocket.

Chuck

Yes.

Lauren

And then finally, for labs, we are always seeing people kind of struggle to take command of the power strip, right? We always put power strips in our labs. However, there never seems to be enough, no matter how many we order. So one thing that I can recommend is a laptop grade power bank. They are available. They’re more expensive obviously, than like a phone grade power bank, but they are a phenomenal back up to have in your laptop bag to ensure that you don’t have to elbow someone out for that power strip. Well, that kind of concludes the packing list. Is there anything else, Chuck, that you do or could recommend prior to the conference at all? I think we hit most things.

Chuck

I like to put things aside. I am… I wouldn’t say extremely early packer, but there’s been things that have been accumulating over the last few weeks and months that I know I don’t want to forget, and I have them set aside in my office. There’s this pile that’s growing actually now it’s a box that has stuff in it that I want to make sure that I have when I get there. Because in the last few days or even the week before, I’m probably not going to be thinking about the projects I was working on in January. So those are already set aside. And then I will go to my unified list to add on to that. Have things set aside that you say, Hey, I really don’t want to forget about this. And it’s probably not… It’s not on my unified list. Certainly, you know, Family Feud buttons are not on there or an extra keyboard and mouse. So I can configure a Raspberry Pi that doesn’t always end up on my cruise.

Lauren

No. It’s not on the standard packing list… yet, is what you’re trying to say.

Chuck

So you know, those specialty items are in a pile by themselves that are going to Knowledge. And then when I’m ready to pack up the car, I’ll have suitcase, laptop bag and that pile of stuff, you know, that could include the trophies for the Devvies the the books for the book signing, all those random outliers. Don’t forget about those, but don’t make yourself chase them down at the last minute because they will get forgotten and someone will have my head if I forget the devvies trophies.

Lauren

I think all the winners would also want your head as well if they don’t get their trophy. Well, I think I was trying to think of what else I did, and this is something I think I brought up on episode 75 with Earl and Pranav, which was I like to make a list of people I’m hoping to connect with.

Chuck

Oh, excellent idea.

Lauren

Even as an employee, even as someone that works for ServiceNow, I still take the networking aspect of Knowledge extremely seriously, and I’ve found that if I don’t make a list prior to the conference, there’s always people I am, you know, hitting myself over the head with, afterwards. I’m like, Oh man, that was my one opportunity to connect with so-and-so. And I didn’t even try to find them because I just I just forgot. I just got swept up into the storm that is Knowledge. So I might even seem a bit inhumane, but I even rank them, you know, based off of distance, based off of how desperately I’ve been trying to get their attention. I prioritize that list because otherwise, you know, it’s a huge missed opportunity at times.

Chuck

You’re right. You’ll get swept up and forget and then you get done and go, You know, I never got to see Andy Ho, you know, And sometimes the people you do meet will surprise you. Say, Hey, it’s David Liu!

Lauren

Yeah, that’s like, for example, one of the top groups in my list are all the developer meetup organizers and members from APJ. I help represent all of them. I’ve unfortunately not met most of them yet, so I’m hoping to meet as many as I possibly can at Knowledge.

Chuck

Right. Right. Okay. Planning aside.

Lauren

Yes. Moving on to the actual conference.

Chuck

Envision yourself actually at the conference, right?

Lauren

Yes.

Chuck

What’s important?

Lauren

Your badge. Your badge is your lifeline. That is the first thing you get when you come to the conference. They hand you your badge. Do not lose it. I believe there is always a fine to replace it. And also I will say don’t wear it if you’re not doing Knowledge things. I always hear horror stories. I mean, it is Vegas, right, of people going out and doing some crazy stuff and then their boss immediately knows because they were wearing their badge. So don’t narc on yourself. If you’re going to do silly stuff in Vegas, make sure you leave that badge when you’re not at Knowledge things and always have it on you when you are.

Chuck

Well, I think it’s the point of act professionally. You are representing your organization, you are representing ServiceNow, you are representing the conference. So just act professionally when you’re not at the conference. Well, act professionally at the conference too… all the time act professionally. That didn’t come out quite the way I intended. But one handy tip you may get to the end of the day and you’re very tired. You wake up in the morning, you’re very tired, hang it on a hook or something near the door. So you’re reminding yourself, I cannot miss this. I cannot. I put mine typically with my room key on the dresser, and I have a ritual now, before that door closes behind me, I stick my right heel out so the door does not close and I always pat down, you know, Where’s my wallet? Where’s my keys? Where’s my room key, Where’s my badge? You know, sort of this, you know, sort of self pat down thing. God. Got it, Got it, got it. Good. Let the door shut. I’m confident because I do not want to get stuck at 1:30 a.m. that next morning going Oh no, I don’t have my key, I don’t have my I.D., I can’t get in my room or you make that long trek from your hotel room down to the conference hall. That’s about another 4000 steps. It’s a long way. It’s at least a 30 minute trek. And you go, I don’t have my badge. I got to go back. And that lab I really wanted to take or the keynote won’t let me in and I’m going to miss it. So give yourself an easy reminder. Make it easy on your tired self to find it and then feel it before you leave.

Lauren

I even heard some murmurings of people putting Airtags on their lanyard this year. Just that at a quick glance at their phone they know, Oh, it’s right there in my backpack. I don’t have to or it’s right there in my pocket. I don’t to search for it or Oh goodness, I’ve lost it…

Chuck

Or oh goodness, I left it behind. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s a great idea. Hadn’t thought of Airtags before. Yeah. Not it’s not a free, cheap solution, but it’s doable.

Lauren

Yeah. If you had one laying around and didn’t have a purpose for it might be fun to bring along. Aside from that. So the first thing you get is your badge. And then usually you have, you know, a half day to kind of get comfortable, take advantage of that day that you fly into Knowledge to find where everything is. I specifically direct this piece of advice at people presenting because there’s always people every year that are running through the halls desperately trying to find where their lab is, and it’s the lab they are leading. So please do not be one of those people. It is a massive conference hall. If you’ve never been to Vegas, take the mental image you have and probably double it because there’s about five floors and I think there’s actually eight. But I think we’re only using four or five.

Chuck

The number sequence isn’t the best either. It’s like, no, it goes from what is it like… 408, 410, 412, 430. No, wait, I’m supposed to be in 415. Where is it? There’s like nothing between there, you know, walking around going, Oh, it’s around the corner. You know, there’s weird stuff like that. So you have to pay attention to the signage, the “Ask Me” people, the helper people. They are very helpful with that. They’ll be around. So yeah I love this tip, Lauren, get the lay of the land. Use some of that downtime to just explore. And as you walk from your hotel room to the conference hall, pay attention to what’s around you. I think I might have said this at episode 75 as well, but where’s a restaurant? Where can I get something to eat? Where? Hey, there’s music over there. Maybe we’ll check that out later tonight. Even as you’re going through the casino, for some reason, we always have to go to the casino. But, you know, pay attention to that as possible stops later. Look around. Where could you tell somebody to meet up, say, you know, hey, I didn’t… you’re chatting online and saying I didn’t get a chance to meet you. Meet me at such and such a place. You’ll now have those landmarks in your mind.

Lauren

Absolutely. I’ve even gone so far as to time how long it takes me to walk from my room to my first stop of the day, or at least to the conference hall. Because at times you’ll think, Oh, I’ve got 15 minutes. That’s plenty of time. No, no, it’s not. It’s enough for one way.

Chuck

Especially if they stop you and say, Hey, you got a minute to chat.

Lauren

Yeah. That’s the other thing too, is if you’re pretty popular in the ServiceNow community, you’re running into all your friends, which is a great thing, but it does slow you down a little bit. It’s happened to me enough, Chuck, where I think I don’t even know what Chuck’s experience is like because it must just be like a game of, like, red light, green light with you when you’re walking down the hall.

Chuck

That’s pretty close. I do have to time my bathroom breaks carefully.

Lauren

I’m surprised you don’t have a disguise. So, speaking of people, you’re going to be meeting lots of them. That is one of the benefits of this conference, right, is that there are literally thousands of people coming both from our company, from partners and from amazing customers as well. What? And you meet more than probably anyone else. What do you do to remember people, Chuck? I’m always astounded by how well you remember faces and names. It’s really amazing.

Chuck

There are more oops than there are successes in my book.

Lauren

Well, they’re not that obvious, so good job at covering them.

Chuck

You know, the quick glance at the name badge is always a cheat. Thank goodness we have those, as long as they’re the kind that don’t spin around.

Lauren

Yeah, yeah, yeah. But you usually remember where you meet people though, because I remember we met at Knowledge 16 and you remembered me from your class at Knowledge 17, which I was really impressed by.

Chuck

You were hard to forget. Lauren.

Lauren

I sat in the front row too and I’m pretty loud.

Chuck

You said it at me. After I take the selfie, I take that picture, and then I duplicate it in my photo gallery. And then I typed the name on there. It helped cement that in, even if I never use that picture again. It’s like, that’s Christopher, that’s Doreen. And I can now start to put that because you don’t always get the name badge in the picture. Unfortunately. You know, you want smiling faces and up close and at arm’s length, the badge rarely gets in the picture for a selfie. But I’ve done that with the duplicate picture and then label it. The other one is if they’ve got a business card, I usually take the card and I will write the name and any pertinent information. Hey, I met you at lunch on Tuesday. We talked about ITSM implementations follow up when you get home and reach out to that person. Now you’ve got their contact info as well. So that’s another trick that I’ve used. I know that one of our coworkers, Molly Feterl, was just blown away. She called me like five years after a conference. I had her in my contacts and not only that, I picked up the phone as I’m driving. I said, Hey, Molly, what’s up with you? Like, how do you know who it was? You know, that just kind of blew her away. I don’t think we’ve talked about, you know, talk to each other since Knowledge 13 when we were having lunch, and she thought I was some sort of psychic Rain Man going on here. And it’s all because I had that in my notes for that contact information. It pays hugely, even if you’d only use it once and blow away one person. It’s pretty darn impressive. But those are a couple ideas that I’ve got. Do you have any to add to that?

Lauren

I use the… that’s the main reason I travel with a Sharpie, because usually when people hand me their business card, I write down where we met. At least I really like the idea about the selfie. So if I had to steal that from you this year, this time around.

Chuck

It’s worked out well, but it doesn’t always work when you’ve got lots of people, you know, trying to do it all at once. I went to Vancouver and it was like a queue of people going, Selfie, click, selfie, click, selfie, click. I’m going to struggle to remember those people. But I do go through and review the pictures, so I know, Hey, here’s the people I met in Vancouver, so at least I’ve got the face in mind and then I could go, you know, if I can’t get their name right away or cheat by looking at their badge, I can go Vancouver, Right. We met in Vancouver in March, so we’ll.

Lauren

Absolutely.

Chuck

We’ll have that trick.

Lauren

And then I guess finally, as a employee, I’d be remiss not to say this as something to do during Knowledge. Please complete your surveys. I know for a fact that when I lead a lab, I read every single survey that is submitted to me. I can’t say that’s true for everybody, but I know that at a micro level I do it. At a macro level ServiceNow as a company takes the surveys very seriously. So if there is something that you love, if there is something that you hate or you think is just fine, any amount of information is incredibly helpful for us to develop the programs that are best suited towards you.

Chuck

Thank you. In advance.

Lauren

Yes. Because I know you’ll probably be getting a lot of that. And then I guess finally, Chuck, once the party is over and the hangovers have passed, what do you suggest people do after Knowledge? What is the best way to kind of carry this ball forward to ensure maybe that they also get to go the following year.

Chuck

Start planning for next year!

Lauren

Yeah, right now!

Chuck

No, I say that in all seriousness, your best plan is to follow up with what you learned, what you took home. That’s why you want to be focused on what you need to go for. Why am I going? I’m going to learn more about asset management or I’m going to learn more about ITOM, or I’m going to learn more about Service Operation Workbench, whatever it is that you are there for, go do those things, make your notes and then present them when you get back. So have a 1 to 2 pager, put some photos in there and say, Look, I got my picture with Bill McDermott and Chuck Tomasi and you know, those are fun for people to look at. But you hit the highlight points and say, this is why I went and this is what I got and now we can start planning. It continues that excitement. It shows value of why did we send you. If all you did was, you know, go to the One Republic party on the last night, you’re probably not going to get to go next year.

Lauren

Absolutely. One thing that I also like to do when looking back retrospectively at Knowledge is to see what content was missing that I’m an expert on. So if you didn’t present this year, use this conference as an opportunity to see what you could possibly present on next year. I always like to encourage people to try to present. Not only is it a tremendous resume builder, but really helps with the overall cost of a Knowledge trip. So it’s something to be cognizant of. And the best way to find that out is to say Oh, well that that topic wasn’t really represented in the Agenda Builder and I’m an expert in that. That could be a great clue. So I always like to recommend that. And then also I’ve read this great book called Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi and it’s basically about networking and specifically conference type of networking. And he has a great slogan that is follow up or fail. It is great making connections, but if you never follow up on them, they are not connections, they are just a blip in someone’s radar. So reach out to the connections that you do make. That could be a simple Hey, it was great meeting you and a connection on LinkedIn. That could be the sending them the selfie that you’re taking, Chuck, so that they have a copy of it and they have proof of, Oh, that’s what that person looks like. But yeah, reach out to people. Don’t be afraid to. I’ve gotten a lot of great connections, specifically because people reached out post Knowledge and that meant a lot to me.

Chuck

That’s a great idea and very important as a career building tip as well. Lauren I’m going to do mine as a lightning round. One thing that I discovered before going to a conference or going on any trip at least. Change your password now at least a week before you go. I know many of us have organizations that require them to change every 90 days, and you don’t want that 90 days to expire while you’re at the conference. Trust me on this one, you’ll be struggling to think of a new password that meets all the requirements. And then you’re going to struggle the rest of the conference to remember what that is. Your fingers won’t be trained to type it. Mine just expired in mid April, so yes, I had to go through that pain of coming up with a new password and now I’m learning to type it. But when I get to the conference it will be comfortable and I won’t be stuck on stage trying to unlock my laptop in front of a crowd of 100 people.

Lauren

So yeah, Murphy’s Law would make sure that happened.

Chuck

Practice walking the distances again. Credit to I believe it was Tim Woodruff’s article. He’s got a couple of candidates in here. I go for morning walks. I’m increasing the distance so that my legs know what it feels like to walk 11,000 steps at a time. And I. I will have that endurance built up because let’s face it, many of us sit at our computers and desks all day and we don’t do a lot of movement. This is a great way to start building, literally building those muscles. Another one for, you know, the new age of personal health protection. Think about bringing some sanitary or disinfectant wipes. I used to look like a crazy person when I wipe down the service tray on the airplane. Not anymore. People go, Hey, can I borrow one? It’s a new world and something we need to think about. So think about bringing those. Also bring hearing protection. That concert on the last night is going to be loud. And I say this as an older man who has constant ringing in his ears from younger mistakes, earplugs, earbuds, headphones. You know, you might look like a crazy person at the conference, but you’ll thank yourself later that night and the next morning when you can still hear and when you get to be in your fifties and sixties. So hearing protection not a bad idea. Fashion be damned. The other one get some rest. There’s going to be a lot going on. You’re going to get up early. So they get breakfast and then get to the keynote. If you’re presenting, you might have to get up even earlier to get to the rehearsal room, etc. You’ll be up late socializing, take time to take breaks. You don’t have to be at every lab and every session on the expo floor. There’s going to be a lot happening in three days. Make sure you’re kind to your future self and give yourself some rest times.

Lauren

I would love to add a point here. One technique I always do to help me stay on track with that. And it’s easy because people will invite you out every night to do something really fun. I go to one of those like lush or bath places and buy a bunch of, like, fun bath bombs, like, and have a nice night in. And I already preplan a nice night in so that I’m like, Well, I’ve already invested in it, so I might as well stay in at least one or two nights of the four or five nights I’m there.

Chuck

You’re smarter than I am on that.

Lauren

Otherwise I get suckered out. And so… I love seeing my friends so much that I’ll be like, Oh, okay. And then poof, it’s 2:00 in the morning.

Chuck

Exactly. At the conference, make sure you get to the keynotes early. You want to be sitting up front so you can see the people not sitting in the way back and have to look at screens. We do have an area called Ask the Experts and I know this is one of those sessions that’s filling up really, really fast. So if you haven’t registered already, check it out. It’s a great way to get answers focused on what you need. Going back to, why are you going and how do you bring back that evidence? I still have fond memories from Knowledge ten talking to Kristin Mitchell about internationalization localization Translation. That’s where we both met. And unfortunately she’s not at ServiceNow anymore. But long friendship based on that conversation. Another great place to hang out is the Slack channel, sndevs.com. There is a #knowledge23 channel on that server that has wonderful discussions. Occasionally the scary countdown that goes There’s only four days left! You know that for those people that are still planning and packing and whatnot, that’s a bit of a shocker. Even follow up, share some pictures that you saw from there. So quick plug for that. Something I got from a discussion between Sean McClain and Matt Baron. They did a short video focus on one thing to take back to your organization. It’s really easy to get this buffet of of wonderful ideas and aspire to go I want to do that. We’re going to implement that and let’s load that plugin when we get home. And I’ve got to try this script, focus on one. You can still have a list in your backlog, but what is the one thing you want to take back that will make the biggest bang in your organization to get people to go, That was worth it. Send that person again. That should take care of my lightning round. Hopefully we got a lot of stuff. Hopefully found something in there that was useful. Out of that, Lauren, what is your number one?

Lauren

My number one, as someone that likes to be very fashionable but also very comfortable is to bring both an alternative pair of walking/presenting shoes. Personally, that was one thing I did very early in my career, and I’ve stuck to it every single time. What about you?

Chuck

I don’t know if I can narrow down a one, but it’s one concept. It’s all about the networking, the meeting the people, the taking the selfies, the following up, all of that stuff that goes into building those relationships because that’s currency for your career.

Lauren

Absolutely. If I had to pick a macro one I’d pick that one as well, I was just picking the smaller ones! Shoes aren’t that important. Shoes aren’t that important, guys.

Chuck

Okay, Don’t forget your badge.

Lauren

Okay, yeah. Don’t forget your badge. Perfect.

Chuck

Good way to keep me simple. Well, thank you for joining us today, Lauren. It was a lot of good discussion with you.

Lauren

It was a pleasure, as always. Thank you so much for having me.

Chuck

And thank you, wonderful listener for joining us and listening. You could always rewind if you missed anything. Share a Break Point with a friend. Don’t forget you can check out the other ServiceNow podcasts over at servicenow.com/community or devlink.sn/podcasts. We still have that link. You can subscribe to this or any of the ServiceNow podcasts, we even have a mega feed that will get you all of the podcasts in one URL if you’re interested in that. Break Point is brought to you by ServiceNow executive producers would be me and Lauren. Hey, that was easy. Video Captions by Earl Duque, And to find out more about the ServiceNow Developer Program, head on over to developer.servicenow.com. Thanks again Lauren talk to you next time.

Lauren

See all soon, cheers!

Announcer

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Chuck

[Bloopers] In this episode, never mind. I’m going to leave that one alone, but. Okey dokey. [Bloop] I don’t know if what? We will try that again.

Lauren

I’m not going anywhere. I’m all tongue tied today. I keep stepping over myself. aalwh blblblblblbll

Chuck

[Bloop] Or I guess you could go one point no point six per kilometer or whatever it is. When you figure out the math on that one [Bloop] number. Okay, where are we on this? [Bloop] Knowledge is a bit bigger than anything else bllzzzzzz that went down in flames, of course. [Bloop] What is your number one thin-DING DINGGG. Oh, I didn’t want that. Did you hear that?

Lauren

Actually, yeah skip that, cut that, cut that.

Chuck

[Bloop] So much fun when I get off script.

Lauren

We’re all running on fumes today. [Bloop] Yay! Woo! That’s a good one.

Chuck

I can live with that.