Photo by Christian Van Der Henst S. ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/cvander/1346102099/in/photostream/ )

As some of us get ready for IBC2014, remember:

You will have scheduling issues, so be flexible.

If setting a meeting, or attending one, be considerate and try to keep in contact with each other.

You rarely need to see, or present, the first 6 slides of your deck.

The slides are there for cold prospects, not set meetings with your clients. Skip them.

You will walk circa 15,000 steps per day, so get your wearable/tracker ready.

Is this the most exercise you will get all week? Likely, sadly.

The WiFi will suck, your roaming won’t work or will be expensive, so get a MiFi and a local SIM.

It has always sucked, and will always suck, until a major serious vendor and sponsor get behind it.

You will run out of battery on your phone every lunchtime, so at least carry a cable so a kind soul like me with a 10,00mAh battery pack can charge you up.

And get your own battery pack. With two USB ports. Right now. Shipped to your hotel.

Get to bed before 2am. No meetings before 9am.

I’m not your dad, but surely this is common sense; aber IBC kommt nur einmal im Jahr….

Have enough time to just walk around, see new things, and meet new people.

I would never have met the university researchers working on vector-based video had I not bumped into their poster presentation.

Photo by Christian Van Der Henst S. ( https://www.flickr.com/photos/faceme/5042023426 )

The best networking, the best intel, the best gossip, and the best deals happen when you least expect them.

Go for that coffee. Or that beer, that glass of rosé in the afternoon sun. Go for a ride on a boat. Listen to what others see as the hot topics.

Your thoughts? Your tips?