Jason Buffington .com

Transcript

I’ve been to 3 conferences … in the last 3 weeks … on 3 continents … and I’ve had the same discovery in each.  The power of conferences is always far more than the information that comes from mainstage or the breakouts.

The power and the return on investment … is in the shaking of hands … the hugging of necks … the sharing of coffee (or other beverage). We need connection. No matter how good we get at Teams and Zoom to fuel our brains, we are desperate to fuel our hearts.  And to do that, we must be in-person.  It is much more expensive and totally worth it.

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I was reminded of something else that happened on my last conference when I met up with a colleague of mine. 

I walked up to Trevor who was in an exhibit booth talking with someone I hadn’t met.  Trevor and I shook hands and bro hugged, but before I could say anything else, Trevor introduced me to Dave. But he didn’t just say, “Dave this is Jason – Jason, Dave.”

He started telling Dave a quick story about our past. He talked about a class we shared and our conversations.  Then, he gave me a gift; three actually:

• Dave was gonna meet 1,000 people that week. But to Dave, I’m no longer just lead number 316 … I’m “that guy” that his buddy Trevor raved about – and that will matter when Dave & I next connect.

• Trevor showed that our friendship mattered to him and that something we did was impactful. What he didn’t know was that I was having a cruddy week.  But after that, I wasn’t.

• Lastly, he reminded me of the power of affirming someone when you introduce them. It’s one thing when you meet somebody and you say this is what I do but it is so much stronger when someone else says, “Here’s Jason. Let me tell you what is great about him and how you two have common ground”.

I try to do this in e-mail when I’m introducing folks, where I might write:

• Amy is the only reason our projects land successfully; she’s amazing.

• Fae is such an incredible enabler. When she asks, “How can I help?” its genuine and it’ll make a difference.

• Emilee is the most impactful technical evangelist I’ve known in my career because …

The point is it costs nothing to lift up someone in the eyes of those around them. But what you’ve done is a gift – because whoever hears it, if they respect you, they now think that much more highly of the person you’re introducing AND you’ve reminded your colleague how much they matter to you.

So, the next time that you are connecting folks, don’t just introduce; elevate and affirm them. 

See ya next Monday.