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After returning from nearly two weeks of traveling, I would have to agree with Fred Wilson’s Conferences post.
For the most part.
The local conferences here in New York are outstanding – from NYReport’s regular conferences to the New York Times Small Business Summit.
These are just two great events in the city where we NY dwellers can reach out and meet other folks in like-minded industries/companies.
But, I do try to get out to the west coast once a year to meet with potential clients, attend a conference, and mingle at social networking events.
With a lot of up-front planning, the west coast trips seem to be successful and I generally grab a bunch of new contacts that turn into clients at some point down the road. It’s always good to get your name/brand/product(s)/service(s) visible to a larger audience.
I don’t have the breadth of contacts or visibility that Fred Wilson has, at least not yet. Even his tremendously successful and deep Rolodex had to start somewhere, and that starting point might have been at a few conferences that included long trips.
Fred’s ability to have people come to him helps, too – I know I’m envious of his position (social/professional) and looking at the number of his followers, I’m definitely not the only one.
Traveling from east to west, then back again monthly or even quarterly would certainly be a drain on time, not to mention the effect travel has on the body and mind. Unfortunately, we have to start somewhere.