Do you want to get more out of this year's WPPI Convention and Trade Show than ever before? We've put together 22 tips to get maximum value out of your convention experience. As success and business coaches, we've attended many conventions and seminars. The tips we're sharing with you are ones we've found invaluable in gaining the most out of any educational situation.

This year, it's all about having a great time and learning things that you can take back to your studio and put into action the very next day.

Before the Convention

Tip 1: Set three major goals for the convention. These are three big picture items. Write down three things you want to accomplish, such as getting new lighting equipment for your studio, learning the nuts and bolts of how to photograph seniors or finding new styles for wedding photography.

Write three goals that are important to you and your business right now. Have those three goals with you at all times during WPPI. What happens to most people at conventions? They see all of their friends and get caught up in the excitement. Once they get back home they say, "Shoot! I was right there and I didn't ask this question or I didn't find an answer to that."

Tip 2: Create a master list of all the questions you want answered. Successful people know what they don't know. To help you be more successful, make a master list of questions you want answers to. Your questions can be anything: How do I light a newborn? How do I get this type of ratio? Whatever questions you have, this is the time to get them down on paper. Keep your list with you--you never know whom you'll run into who can answer your questions.

Bonus tip: When you ask a question, don't give a lengthy explanation before you actually get to it. Ask the question and be ready to listen to the answer. If the person you're asking needs more information, he or she will ask you.

Tip 3: Make a list of at least three speakers you would like to meet and why you want to meet them. WPPI is a great opportunity to meet renowned photographers. Maybe you've read their articles. Maybe you've seen their DVDs. Maybe you've always wanted to meet them because you've admired their work.

Be sure to take your camera with you. Get a photo with that person--you can use it with your press release and/or your website with the caption, "We recently attended the 2008 WPPI Convention and Trade Show and met international photographer Guy Camera."

How do you meet someone? Go up to him or her and say, "I've always admired your work and I just wanted to introduce myself." Tell the person where you're from, why you've admired his or her work and ask if he or she would mind taking a photo with you. It's simple and speakers are generally flattered.

Tip 4: Make a budget of what you're going to invest for continuing education and new tools. Think in advance about what you may need at the convention. Set a dollar amount and talk to your spouse or partner about the budget and what you've got planned.

Continue your education. Continue the business of business, sales and marketing. Don't be afraid to spend money on education.

Everything at the trade show looks great, exciting and new. Don't put yourself in a terrible cash flow position because you've overspent. Stick to the budget, gather information, get what you need and invest in the items that will help you get your business to the next level.

Tip 5: Bring at least 50 business cards with you. Your goal is to give out all 50 cards. All you have to say is, "May I give you a business card? I'd like to stay in touch with you." Give your cards to speakers and other attendees. Trade show vendors don't count in your 50; it would be too easy to give out 50 business cards at the trade show alone.

Tip 6: Bring 52 index cards with you. As we go through the rest of the tips you'll find out how these will come in handy when you get back to your studio.

Tip 7: Bring 12 pre-stamped postcards, which you can get at the post office. They are 4x5 or 4x6 postcards with postage printed on them. All you have to do is address them and send them out. You'll find out how to use the postcards in Tip 11.

During the Convention

Tip 8: Cross out each question from the master list you created in Tip 2. Keep it with you at all seminars, meetings, even at lunch. Cross out the questions as you get them answered. It will give you a sense of accomplishment and remind you of what you've learned.

Tip 9: Get to the meeting room early and sit up front--it gets you more involved and engaged with the speaker. It's a great way to feel more a part of the program. Be enthusiastic; it's contagious. When you sit in the back of the room, you feel less connected to what's going on during the program.

Tip 10: Use your index cards to jot down ideas. When you think of something that you'd like to implement, try or experiment with, write the date in the top right corner of a card and then write the main concept or idea. If added thoughts come after that, write them in too, but you want the main concept on the card while it's fresh in your mind.

Tip 11: Use your postcards. In Tip 7 we talked about having 12 pre-stamped postcards with you. Here's how those work. Your goal is to send four postcards a day while you're at the convention. Write them out; there's already postage on them, so you can mail them through your hotel's front desk. Send these to speakers to let them know they did a great job or that you enjoyed meeting them. Send them to attendees who you've met and want to keep in touch with.

You'll be surprised at how this simple gesture works--it makes you stand out from the crowd. We've done this at different conferences and have gotten handwritten notes and phone calls thanking us for the note and invitations to events we could only dream about attending.

Tip 12: Schedule 15, 30 or 60 minutes with each speaker or photographer you want to learn from.

Offer to take them to lunch, dinner or buy their time. Speakers are no different than you are; if you want to learn something from them, offer to buy them a meal. If that doesn't work, let them know you'd like to buy 30 minutes of their time. Be gracious and respectful no matter what their answer is.

When meeting with someone, use your time wisely. Make a list of questions you'd like to go over. You don't want to sit there and tell the person how much you like him or her. Chat, ask about him or her and then start going over your questions.

Tip 13: Keep score by counting the business cards you've acquired. Your goal is to collect five cards a day. Again, these cards are from speakers and other attendees. There's an expression in the business world: "Your network indicates your net worth." What that means is the people you surround yourself with and the people you have contact with will determine how successful you are. If you have contact with people who are extremely successful in running their businesses, it's going to rub off. You'll be able to gather information from them.

This goes back to giving them your business card, when you do, ask for their business card and send them a postcard. This will help keep your network going.

Tip 14: Add new questions to your master list during the convention. We had you start out making a master list of questions. As questions come to you during the convention, add them to your list. That's how you'll remember them and get answers.

Tip 15: Make a list of items or products you're interested in to avoid a shopping frenzy. In Tip 4, you made a budget and a list of things you thought you might like to invest in. Now, you're at the convention and trade show and you've seen new things you're excited about and things that could help you. Make your buying decisions ahead of time, during a meal or in your hotel room, to avoid the shopping frenzy of the trade show.

Tip 16: Sit with different people at meals and meetings. It's sometimes difficult to sit with new people, but make this a new habit and you'll leave with a new group of friends.

Don't stay with the group you came with. If you came with your spouse or your business partner, split up. You'll cover much more territory if you go in separate directions. Don't attend the same seminars. Go to different seminars and then bring your notes together. There are so many great seminars to choose from; you'll gain more from the convention by maximizing your learning time.

Are you at the convention by yourself? No problem. Make a point of meeting someone the first day and ask him or her what programs he or she is planning on going to. You can go to different programs and then get copies made of your notes and share them with each other.

Tip 17: Give out at least 10 business cards a day.

Tip 18: Make at least two introductions per day while at the convention. Again, this is one of those outside-your-comfort-zone exercises. Introducing people takes your mind off you and puts it on somebody else.

You're at the Welcome Reception and you're chatting with someone you've just met. Someone else walks up and says hi--maybe it's someone you know. Here's your chance to make an introduction. Use his or her name, where he or she is from and what he or she does. Then, step back and let them carry the conversation. This gives you a chance to learn from them and establishes you as someone who's willing to share and listen.

Tip 19: Find an event partner to hold you accountable. We touched on this in Tip 16 when we mentioned finding someone to share seminar notes with. An event partner is someone you'll talk to each day about the results you want to achieve over the next 52 weeks. Think about what your life will be like a year from now at the 2009 WPPI Convention and Trade Show and talk to your event partner about that. You're going to develop a relationship with your event partner. Give him or her permission to hold you accountable and do the same in return.

Schedule a 15-20 minute phone call with your partner every week or every two weeks. This is where you'll follow up with each other and see if you did what you said you were going to. This isn't chitchat time; this is time to help you both stay focused and move ahead.

Tip 20: Choose and prioritize 52 specific ideas from the event. These are on your idea cards that we talked about in Tip 10. Take the 52 cards and prioritize them. Your ideas have come from listening to the speakers, walking around the trade show and viewing the print exhibit.

It's been said that little hinges open big doors. These are 52 little hinges--52 little index cards that can open huge doors for you.

After the Convention

Tip 21: Take a decompression day after the convention. If it's possible, take a day off to let your mind rest. This is when you can unpack, put your clothes away, take care of the dry cleaning and do the laundry. Go through the literature, throw out all the stuff that you're no longer interested in and file the items you want to keep. Add the business cards you've collected to your database or to business card pages in a binder.

Taking care of these things right away gives your mind a chance to get out of convention mode and relax. You'll find that ideas and thoughts will start to gel in your head; all of the concepts that hit you in the face like a fire hydrant at the convention will begin to settle into your mind. Taking a decompression day allows your mind to put everything in perspective.

Tip 22: Carve out an hour a day to start accomplishing the things on your idea cards. Make it the first thing you do each day and you'll find yourself making great progress.

Start with your top five cards--put them where you can see them every day. During your hour of "card time" each morning, you'll begin working on these five ideas. As you accomplish one, write the date of completion or implementation, place that card in your 2008 Completed Ideas File and select another card from your stack. You always want to have five idea cards posted.

Put them in a place where you'll see them and watch how much you get accomplished every day, every week. This doesn't mean that you'll be able to accomplish an idea card in one hour. It may take you a week to do one, it may take you four or five weeks to do one. Just keep working. Little steps will move you forward.

These tips are designed to help you have fun at the convention and gain a better perspective of your business and what you can accomplish. We want you to be successful. We want the photographic industry to be successful. Our goal is for you to go home with a plan you feel comfortable with. More importantly, we want you to implement the ideas and plans you have.

Enjoy the convention. We'll see you there!