Over the past few weeks, I have had the feeling that my office has moved between conference halls, airports and hotels. Oradea, Barcelona, Brașov, Oberhausen, Cluj-Napoca, Bucharest. Gala Tranzit Logistics, the ARILOG Conference, TAPA EMEA, Ziua Cargo. Four different events, hundreds of conversations and the same conclusion I reach almost every time – participating in a conference is one of the most underestimated business activities.
While many people treat it as just another item in their calendar, some see it as an opportunity to hand out as many business cards as possible, while others leave home convinced that the success of the event will be measured by the number of business meetings they manage to arrange by the end of the day.
I believe this approach creates unnecessary pressure, both on yourself and on the people you are trying to engage in conversation with.
A conference is not a hunting ground for leads, but one of the few contexts where you can build trust before there is even a commercial need. In industries such as transport and logistics, where relationships are built over time, this is infinitely more valuable than giving a product presentation during a coffee break.
Paradoxically, it is precisely those who are not trying to sell at all costs who remain in people’s minds after the event.
A conference starts a few days before it begins, not at registration
One of the most common mistakes is to believe that participation begins the moment you collect your badge.
In reality, by then you should already be prepared.
The conference agenda says a lot about the direction an industry is heading. Who are the speakers? Which topics have been considered important enough to make it onto the stage? Which challenges are the organisers trying to bring into the discussion?
If you understand these things before the event, your conversations will have a completely different level of substance and relevance.
The list of participants is just as important. Today, most conferences provide dedicated apps or publish, in one way or another, the companies attending. Don’t try to meet 200 people at once; it is an impossible and unnecessary objective.
Choose three to five people you genuinely want to speak with—not because you want to sell them something, but because there is a legitimate reason why the two of you should get to know each other.
Research is one of the most elegant forms of respect
Before an event, I always set aside time to read about the people I hope to meet. What responsibilities do they have within the company? Which projects do they coordinate? What do they write about on LinkedIn? What investments has their company made in recent months? Have they launched new services? Have they gone through significant changes?
I don’t do this to impress anyone. I do it because a good conversation always starts with genuine interest. The difference between “What does your company do?” and “I read about your investment in… I’m curious to know how the project is progressing.” is enormous.
The first question opens a polite conversation, while the second shows that you invested your time before asking for someone else’s. Believe me, people notice this almost every time.
Even if you represent a company, the first brand people see is you
I often hear people say: “I don’t matter; the company’s brand is what matters.”
I don’t agree.
At a conference, the company doesn’t enter the room first—you do.
People will associate the experience they have with you with the image of the organisation you represent.
That is why your personal brand does not compete with your company’s brand—it complements it.
The way you speak, the questions you ask, the attention you give to the person you’re talking to, your punctuality, the energy you bring to discussions, or even seemingly insignificant details—a well-positioned badge, business cards, a personalised lanyard or a pair of trainers in your brand colours—all contribute to the impression you leave behind.
It is not about appearance for the sake of appearance; it is about consistency.
Strong brands are built from hundreds of small details, repeated consistently.
Don’t start by talking about who you are
There is a moment you immediately recognise at almost every conference. You approach someone, exchange a couple of polite greetings and, within the next two minutes, you hear the entire sales presentation of their company: without asking, without context and without there being any need. Your eyes start looking left and right, hoping to spot someone you know who can rescue you.
From my experience, people don’t go to conferences to listen to improvised sales presentations. They go to meet people or to stay up to date with what’s happening in the industry.
Good questions are worth more than pre-prepared answers.
Ask them about their challenges, the market, the projects they are working on and what is currently on their minds. Or, even better, do your research before you get there.
Very often, the other person will naturally end up asking who you are and what you do.
The difference is that, by then, the conversation already has a different context.
Sometimes the most valuable part of a conference is on stage, not during the coffee break
Networking is important, but I am always surprised by how many participants spend the whole day in the hallway and miss the very sessions they came to attend.
If you work in transport and logistics, every panel about digitalisation, security, artificial intelligence, road tolls, sustainability or leadership is, in fact, a research session for your future conversations with clients.
I don’t attend these sessions simply because I find the topics interesting. I attend because I care about my clients and, above all, about their concerns and the challenges they face.
If I understand the industry’s challenges better, I will ask better questions, provide more relevant examples and build solutions that are closer to reality.
Very often, the best ideas for an article, a podcast or even a new project come from listening to a speaker rather than from a networking conversation.
The value of a conference becomes visible after you return to the office
Perhaps the biggest mistake is to consider the event over the moment you leave for home. In reality, that is when the stage that generates results actually begins.
- Send the messages you promised.
- Connect with the people you met on LinkedIn.
- Write them a few personalised lines instead of sending a standard invitation.
- Share the ideas you took away from the conference and give credit to the people you learned from.
- Thank the organisers.
- Continue the conversations that started during the coffee break.
Many opportunities are lost simply because nobody follows up after the first conversation.
Conferences build reputation before they build sales
I believe this is the most important lesson I have learned after years of attending events.
I never go to a conference with the objective of turning every conversation into a contract. I go with the objective of leaving a little richer than when I arrived—with new ideas and different perspectives, with people I am happy to have met and, above all, with a better understanding of the industry I work in.
The rest comes with time because, in business—especially in transport and logistics—people rarely buy from the person who delivered the best sales pitch during a coffee break. They buy from the people they have seen consistently, who asked the right questions, who demonstrated that they understand the industry and who, before trying to sell something, built the most valuable asset a professional can have: trust.
And one clear, practical example
At Drivion, we already have a very concrete example. Roxana and I registered for the Transporeon Summit back in January, even though the event will only take place several months from now. Not because we were in a hurry to secure a place, but because we know that the value of a conference is built before you even get there.
We have already gone through the agenda and researched the speakers. We have read about the companies that will be represented on stage and about their recent projects. We have even planned our trip so that we can attend the sessions that truly interest us and, as the agenda continues to develop, we keep adding questions that we would like to ask the people we hope to meet there.
We are not going to the conference to “see what happens.”
We are going with clear objectives, discussion topics and enough preparation for every conversation to begin with a relevant subject rather than with a formal introduction.
If you understand these things before the event, your conversations will have a completely different level of depth.