Travelling to new cities.  Hotels with nice lobbies and king size beds.  Fancy meals.  Room service at the touch of a button.  Site seeing.  Enjoying drinks at an early happy hour … and with dinner … and a couple more later that night.  Music.  Dancing.  Staying up late.

This may sound like the beginning of your “to do list” if you wake up in the morning and realize you’ve won the lottery … but no – this list refers to PROFESSIONAL DELEVLOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES complimentary of your place of business!

First off – if you’re lucky enough to have a company (or a successful self-owned business) that is willing to send you to a continued learning seminar, conference, or other opportunity, APPRECIATE IT!  Consider this as part of your compensation; not only does your trip cost a lot of money (flight, hotel, cabs, and food IN ADDITION to the actual cost of conference registration), but it likely boosts your own personal resume or results in a certification or credits of some sort.

Secondly, make sure the end result of your trip results in a benefit(s) to your organization since they have decided to invest in you!  Here are three tips for ensuring a R.O.I. for your professional development opportunity while still having some fun:

1. Review the detailed agenda for the conference ahead of time and highlight classes that would truly be a benefit to your organization.  Ensure you attend these, and ask for literature to take back to your office with you to share the (information) wealth.  If there is a repetitive session or a break, use this time to return to your hotel for a quick nap or to catch up on email.
2. Buddy up – if you attend the conference with a friend (or you can make a new friend at the welcome reception/on the first day), divide and conquer critical sessions and meet later for lunch to enlighten each other.  This is a win-win for you both, as you can cover twice the material an individual would be able to.  A side benefit is that you won’t run yourself tired trying to catch 15 minutes of 4 different sessions during a single time block!  After all, you are supposed to walk away from this “rejuvenated” and “motivated”, not tired and in need of a post-trip vacation!
3. Choose your time to treat yourself.  This is important because, if you indulged at every opportunity, the conference you’re attending would likely serve you into a food coma and pour one too many drinks for a 24-hour period.  Honestly – there is no need for the abundance of large meals every couple of hours, brownies available at every break, unlimited caffeine sources, and more happy hours than  is humanly possible to attend.  FREE FOOD AND DRINKS are not your focus.  Focus on learning, and save up for one or two treats a day.  Bonus – you will enjoy your glass of wine or chocolate mouse after dinner more if you have not been filling up on cookies, pigs in a blanket, and veggies soaked in ranch dip all day!

Hopefully these tips will help you learn more AND enjoy yourself a little bit the next time you travel for work to develop professionally and network with your peers.  Additional recommendations and comments are welcome!

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