How To Conference Better

I’ve attended about 80 music conferences in my decade as a concert journalist. I’ve traveled to Australia and South America, interviewed everyone from Michael Cohl to Louis Messina in live Q&As and skied the slopes of Snowmass during Aspen Live.

Staff at the IEBA tailgate party rock the Amplify hat in style

In my travels I’ve developed my own treatise – let’s call it Dave’s Unified Theory on Conferences. There are two rules to this theory and the first one is this: attend the receptions and parties, but skip most of the panels and use that time to build relationships with others.

That’s how I rolled at the International Association of Entertainment Buyers show in Nashville. To maximize my travels, I use a point system. First, I count the number of waking hours in a day, let’s say 16. I then multiply that by the number of conference days (three) then divide it by the max amount of hours I want to spend doing any one particular activity. Let’s say four.

That means my score is 12 and I need to do that many memorable things for this trip to be a success. My wife, Kristen, and I were able to see IEBA showcases for Toad the Wet Sprocket, Delta Rae, and The Commodores. That’s three points. We spent a few hours Saturday passing out our #AMPSWAG and even got the wait staff to model it. Point.

Eight more to go.

I like to get out of town when I hit a conference, so I drove out with some Nashville friends to the Fontanel Amphitheater (boom) for the Kid Rock Fish Fry (bang) before enjoying an incredible dinner at an Italian spot on Nashville’s West End (pow).

What else?

We took a meeting with a ticketing guy who wasn’t trying to sell us on his new app. Point. Enjoyed a rooftop dinner and got some good gossip on music biz. Pooiiiynt! And Monday, we attended the CAA party and spent a few minutes with Rod Essig then sat for a screening of the new film “Soul of Nashville” at the Ryman. Two points in a half-hour!

Now I need to earn two final points, and how I did that is confidential. I’m breaking stories every day so I can’t give away all my secrets. I can, however, reveal the final rule of my unified theory: nothing good ever happens at the hotel bar after midnight.

Knowing when to call it a night is the difference between being a pro and being a “bro.” Get some rest. You’ll need it to chase those points.

For more on the IEBA conference visit Amplify at www.ampthemag.com.