Holy moly, y’all! Where to begin? I am finally home and recuperating from an AMAZING time down in Austin, Texas at the 2019 TpT Forward conference. The conference, run by Teachers Pay Teachers, is jam-packed with events and workshops designed to grow your TpT business.
If you’ve never been, let me give you three lessons learned:
Lesson #1: Whatever your personality “type,” this is bound to be an overwhelming experience.
I’m introverted by nature. I need downtime to decompress and make sense of things. There is SO MUCH going on at the conference: running into internet friends in real life, attending information-filled workshops, networking, photo ops, sightseeing a new city, building your business. The list goes on and on.
Even if you’re a go-getting hustler, it’s a lot to take in. Each session is sure to leave your head spinning with not very much time in between the next session to process it all. Try and be fully present wherever you are. Put the phone down; not everything needs to be documented for the ‘gram.
Lesson #2: Early bird? Night owl? Either way, you’ll be freaking exhausted.
Did I mention you are in “go mode” from sun up to sun down? Literally. Talk about sensory and scheduling overload. There are niche breakfast meet and greets, morning and afternoon work sessions, afternoon happy hours, a community service project, Q&A panels. Again, the list goes on and on.
Sure, you could skip out on something, but you didn’t come this far just to go this far, did you? Plus, with everyone and their mother posting play by play photos to social media, the FOMO is real. Accept the fact you’ll be running on little sleep. Eat well, stay hydrated.
Lesson #3: You’ll be so hyped post-conference, you won’t know where to begin.
I have a notebook full of notes on random topics: how to make the most of sitewide sales, how to grow your email list, social media dos and don’ts, why you needed to start a blog yesterday, etc. Each session in isolation was fantastic; I have clearly defined actionable steps for each workshop. The issue then became which takes priority? What should I focus my energy on? It got to a point where I spent more time thinking about what I should do than doing that thing I was thinking about doing. You’re about to be served a whole pie and then some of goodness.. focus on one bite at a time. Pick up your fork and just get started!
All that to say, I CANNOT WAIT for TpT Forward 2020 in Chicago! I’d be interested to see if my thoughts hold true the second time around. I imagine so, but I also believe I’m slightly more prepared with what to expect.
ACTIONABLE STEPS: Comment below with any questions you have about the TpT conference. If you have previously attended, what advice would you give new participants? Share any lessons learned.
