MBA1150 Q&A Wednesday: I can only go to two conferences next year. How do I choose?

Let me tell you about Intuit QuickBooks. When I was starting out my business, I remember sitting at my desk late at night not working on my business but cleaning up numbers, tracking and reconciling.

Payments and wondering how this became my life.

But once I automated the admin side of things of my finances, those nights had disappeared and I felt a whole lot better. Outdo it with intuit QuickBooks QuickBooks is the trusted end to end solution that businesses rely on for getting paid, managing finances, paying employees, finding new customers, and more. QuickBooks provides a team of AI agents and trusted experts, so doing it yourself no longer means doing it alone. Their payment agent gets you paid faster, their customer agent finds leads, follows up and secures more sales, and the accounting agent automates and categorizes transactions. Get your critical business jobs done with QuickBooks on the Intuit platform.

Ready to save on new tech? It's time for Dell Tech Day's annual sales event celebrating our customers with fantastic deals and benefits. Product perks include Dell Rewards, free shipping, premium Support and more. PCs like the Dell 14 with Intel Core Ultra processors will help you do more faster and with a premium suite of monitors and accessories, you can upgrade your whole setup with amazing savings. Visit Dell.com deals.

Hey O. Welcome to the $100 MBA show, the business podcast that knows you're not playing around. That's why we deliver daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher, Omar's at home. I'm also the co founder of the $100 MBA, a complete business training and community online. And today's episode is a Q and A Wednesday episode. Every Wednesday I answer a question from you, one of our listeners. If you have a question you want to ask, just email me over@omar100mba.net Today's question is from Dave and Dave asks, I can only go to two conferences next year. How do I choose? Solid question Dave. I'm going to give you my advice on how to choose which conferences to go to. We all have different businesses in different markets, in different niches and there are plenty of conferences to go to. And boy, in the last five years I've gone to so many conferences, some good, some bad, some horrible. So I'm going to tell you, in my opinion, what's the best way to choose the conference that's going to be the best investment for you, regardless of the topic, regardless of the speakers, regardless of where it is. So let's get into it. Let's get down to business Dave asks on today's Q and A Wednesday, I can only go to two conferences next year. How do I choose? Let me give you the short answer and then I'm going to explain and elaborate and give you the long answer. The short answer is you want to choose the conferences that that make you better, that force you to make you better, that when you look around the room, you say to yourself, man, everybody is doing so good. They're at a higher level than me. I aspire to be like them. That's how we grow. We learn from people that are doing better. And here's the deal about conferences. The best conferences are the one that curate the right environment, the right people. I'm talking about mostly the attendees, but because, hey, you're gonna get some dud speakers, people that don't know how to speak on stage, that are boring, they're covering topics you already know about. You're gonna get conferences that try too hard and do a bunch of woo, woo, wacky things. And that's good and all, but really what you wanna do is make sure that when you go home, you're inspired and you know what it looks like to be where you wanna be. That's really very powerful. You need to see real world examples of people that are living the life and are doing business the way you want to, are at the level of business that you want to be at. Those are the conferences I feel I get the most out of. Let me give you an example. I went to a conference called Running Remote back in June. It was the first time they ran this conference, so it had no track history. All I knew were who was going to attend, who's speaking, and what the conference was about. When I say I know who's going to attend, well, I know what type of attendees will be there based on the conference and how they're pitching the conference, how they're marketing it. Now, I spoke at this conference, but I would have attended it if I wasn't a speaker. Why? Because I run a remote company. I run a team that's spread across the world and I want to meet people that do the same thing. In fact, I want to meet people that are doing the same thing, but are a little ahead of me a few years down the line so I can really learn how to get better. So I knew, like the founders of Buffer and Todoist and GitLab, all, all these people are going to be there. Companies that have larger teams than I have that are running their company remote. And I knew that I was going to learn something from them, because, hey, they've been around the block. And I knew that I was not going to really learn a whole lot from their speeches. Yes, I'll pick up a few nuggets, but really what I want to learn is when I get to know them, when I have chats with them, when they share stories with me on a one, on one basis. I knew there were people at this conference that I can get access to, that I can talk to, that I can get to know that are where I want to be very soon. Not only at the conference, but I know that if I get to know them, we can build a relationship, and then we can carry on that relationship past the conference. So for me, that's a slam dunk. I'm going to go to a conference like that. Even though the conference has no track history, I know the people that are going to attend are people I really can learn from, people that are where I want to be. Another conference that has a lot of buzz is, is called Mastermind Talks. Now, this is a general conference for entrepreneurs from all walks of life, but it's highly curated. Jason Gaignard, who organizes Mastermind Talks, does a fantastic job bringing in the right people. So you're going to be sitting next to somebody that you really will connect with and learn from at the dinner table. It's like relationship building on steroids. So conferences like that should be an easy yes for you. So I would go to conferences, I would choose the conferences to go to that will force me to be better, that will inspire me to be better, that will show me examples of who I want to become in the future. It's very hard to have a vision when you don't know what's possible, when you don't see it in front of you, and that's what a great conference will do for you. Now, I would choose the top two conferences with that criteria, regardless of cost, of course, if you can afford it, and regardless of where it is, if you got to go overseas to go to this conference, it's worth the investment over going to a local conference that doesn't fulfill you in that way and tends to be a waste of two or three days, maybe even more if you have to do a bit of travel. Now, with the exception of speaking, if I'm gonna attend a conference, as an attendee, I steer clear from conferences that don't make it easy for me to build relationships with other people to get to know them. If it's just thousands of people, an expo, it's really hard. It's really hard to get to know people and have the setting where you can really build relationships. So I would make a short list of all the conferences you're interested in. Write down what kind of people will be at that conference, who in particular will be at that conference, whether it's a speaker or an attendee that you know, and rank the conferences based on which one will provide me with the inspiration via the right people, the people I want to get to know, the people that I want to be like in the near future.

Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?

Right?

And the best part? They accept Discover. Except Discover in a little place like this? I don't think so. Jennifer. Oh, yeah, huh? Discover's accepted where I like to shop. Come on, baby, get with the times.

Right?

So we shouldn't get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback, I think.

Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nielsen report. ADP knows anything can change the world of work. Like what if a blocked shipping port caused a worldwide coffee shortage? Suddenly, businesses are scrambling to manage an increasingly drowsy workforce. Productivity slips 20% just due to the extended time it takes to conduct a job interview while yawning. Anything can change the world of work. From HR to payroll, ADP helps businesses take on the next anything. ADP always designing for people.

To wrap up today's Q and A, Wednesday's question from Dave. I can only go to two conferences next year. How do I choose? Choose the conferences that will provide the people that will curate the environment for you to get better. Think of it this way. If you had to find your next mentor, which conference will allow you to find that mentor? Somebody that's a bit ahead of you. When I say bit, I'm talking about three to five years ahead of you. Somebody that you can talk to, that you can relate to, that you can build a relationship with. That's how you choose in my book. Thank you so much for listening to the Hundred Dollar MBA Show. If you have a question you want to ask on Q and A Wednesday, let me know. Just email me at Omar100- MBA-NET and we'll get your question answered right here on the show. Before I go, I want to leave you with this. Some people see conferences as like this work function. But try to see it as, where can I go to build new friendships, to build new relationships. People that can take me to the level I want to go. People that inspire me, people that push me. People that I just want to hang out with. Because, in fact, that's what you're going to do. You're going to hang out with them for a few days at the conference. Having dinners, having drinks. It's a great way to start new relationships. It doesn't have to be this buttoned up, you know, learn as much as you can type of situation. I see conferences as a growing experience. How can I grow and find people that will help me grow? Thank you so much for listening. I'll check you in tomorrow's episode. I'll see you then. Take care.

Of foreign.

Hi, I'm Katie Duke, and I've been a nurse for over 20 years. Listen, I think style and confidence only get better with age, and that is why I love figs. These scrubs are built to last. They fit perfectly, they feel amazing, and the quality is just wow. My favorite color, burgundy. It's chic, it's timeless, and it's even the same color as my apartment.

So there's that.

Get 15% off your first order at wherefigs. Com with the code figsrx.