What Do you Wear at Internet Marketing Conferences?
Here's a question that I get quite often.
Hey Nicole. I bought my ticket for NAMS & Bob's Online Profits Acadamy (or insert event of your choice here). I'm really psyched about going, but I have one thing that's panicking me:
WHAT DO I WEAR?!
Now, that may seem like a silly question to you, but it's really stressing me out.
No worries. I totally understand. You're meeting a lot of people at a live event for the first time, although you may have “known” them online for ages. I stress about this, too.
Here's what NOT to Wear:
Scraggly, worn out, or ripped clothing. Although we live the internet marketing lifestyle, we shouldn't show up at an internet marketing conference in our jammies.
Brand new shoes. Don't break in new shoes at an event. You don't want to be hobbling around, nursing blisters all weekend.
Skinny pants. If you're squeezing into your pants, put them away. You want to be really comfortable sitting and eating with your friends and chatting at meals, not holding in your belly or trying to unbutton your pants while no one is looking.
Provocative clothes. Not the right place or time.
Fancy clothes. Again, the comfort factor is huge at live events. You want to be able to focus on networking and learning, not on whether or not that tag in your shirt is made of barbed-wire or not.
What you Should Pack:
A warm sweater. If you're sitting in the conference room, trying to learn and you're freezing, you'll be miserable. Bring a cozy sweater/fleece/jacket or something in case the room is cold. You don't want your brain frozen.
Comfy shoes. Not that there's a ton of walking involved, but you'll be exhausted physically and mentally from all the fun, so the last thing you'll want is a sore back or tired feet.
What I'll be wearing:
I normally wear jeans or black slacks with a nice-ish shirt. But, I've planned something kind of fun for NAMS and Bob's Online Profits Academy event.
Instead of dealing with the “dangit, I forgot my nametag” and “where do I stick this stupid nametag” woes, I'm buying personalized shirts like these. (Still choosing the exact ones, but they have long-sleeve and hoodies, men and womens, in all sizes and styles.)
You can find a whole mess of T-shirts that you can Customize here:
- Personalized Twitter T-Shirts – I weeded through the shirts and found the ones that are customizable. I'm off to order mine now. If you want to match, grab one and we'll have our picture taken together. 🙂
- Customizable T-shirts – These aren't just for Twitter. You can put any text you want on them.
See you soon!
Warmly,
Nicole Dean
PS. Please leave your “What to Wear” and “What NOT to Wear” tips below.
Angie (Losing It and Loving It)
December 9, 2009 at 4:00 pmAhh great tips on what to wear to NAMS. I can’t wait. When I get back from Jamaica, I’ll have to do a little NAMS clothes shopping. Probably won’t have enough time to get the shirts by then though.
Looking forward to meeting you!
Nicole Dean
December 10, 2009 at 12:12 pmMe, too! 🙂
Arika Lewis
December 9, 2009 at 5:11 pmWell I can tell you what not to NOT wear! LOL 😉 I’m so flippin’ excited for NAMS!
Susanne
December 10, 2009 at 10:40 amDress in layers… you never know if the conference room will be hot or cold and it may change throughout the day.
I usually wear jeans as well and then a t-shirt with a cardigan or sweater over it.
You also want some way to make sure you have your business cards, notepad and phone/ camera etc. with you. Baggy pants w/ big pockets work well or a small pocketbook you’re comfortable carrying around.
Nicole Dean
December 10, 2009 at 12:11 pmGreat tip. I forgot about the purse issue.
I normally make sure my pants have deep enough pockets that I can carry my room key in them. I don’t use cash or credit card much at the events, since I charge everything to my room, but having the room key is kind of important. 🙂
Bridgett
December 10, 2009 at 12:16 pmI second the recommendation to bring a sweater and dress in layers. David likes to keep the rooms on the cool side and you will definitely want a sweater or jacket.
And not clothing related but I found it handy to have a surge protector to allow me to “stretch” the electric down my aisle to keep my laptop up and running. The staff does provide electric up the main aisle.
Tracy Roberts
December 10, 2009 at 12:32 pmThank God for Bridgett & her surge protector – she saved my life and she was pretty fun to sit next, too!
Friday Business casual explains it pretty well for me. I’ll be wearing jeans & nice-ish shirts w/a sweater just in case & sandals 😉
Rebekah Zobel Jones
December 13, 2009 at 12:37 pmI agree about the layers! And I love the surge protector idea, thanks Bridgett for that tip.
Not sure what David provides as name badges (this will be my first NAMS) but the last event I attended, we had badges that hung around our necks. There was a great pocket just behind my name where I could put business cards. No fumbling with a card holder or anything!
I also brought my mini laptop (a netbook) that has a longer battery and is MUCH lighter to carry around. Great for taking action immediately! (and tweeting, of course!)
Looking forward to meeting you all next month!
Merry Christmas!
~R
Bob Jenkins
January 25, 2010 at 4:21 pmHey Nicole,
Thanks for keeping my audience from showing up in cutoffs 🙂
Seriously, this is an ideal chance for any event goer to show professionalism and be comfortable. Your clothes shouldn’t be the thing people remember most about you (good or bad) but the cover that makes you approachable for the conversations that spark incredible, unpredictable things.
See you at NAMS this week and later in February in Wilmington!
Bob
p.s. When I get to NAMS on Friday morning, it will be from an overnight plane flight. So I may be a bit ragged 🙂
Custom Name Badges
February 25, 2010 at 11:25 ami like to wear t-shirts ! with stupid slogans of course 🙂