Author Archive for: Tori Snoddy

There is a point during insurance event season when every conversation starts to feel familiar. “What conference are you headed to next?”

For many insurance professionals, the answer involves a calendar full of conferences, client dinners, networking receptions, pop-up events and early morning flights. Add the emails and regular responsibilities that continue piling up while you are away, and event season can quickly go from exciting to exhausting.

Events create incredible opportunities. They help us build relationships, learn what is happening across the industry and connect with people we may otherwise only know through LinkedIn or email. But trying to attend everything, meet everyone and keep up with your normal workload is not sustainable.

The secret to surviving event season is not having more energy. It is being more intentional with the energy you have.

To offer some real-world perspective, we asked members of the RISE Strategic Planning Board to share what they have learned from years of attending insurance conferences and balancing travel, relationships, work and life.

Decide What Success Looks Like Before You Arrive

It is easy to walk into a large conference, attend sessions, collect business cards and leave feeling busy but unsure of what you actually accomplished.

Before every event, identify your purpose for attending. Are you there to:

• Meet prospective clients?
• Strengthen existing relationships?
• Learn about a specific industry issue?
• Find a mentor or potential mentee?
• Connect with people who could help advance your career?
• Represent your company or build your personal brand?

Choose two or three priorities. You do not need to meet everyone in the room. A few meaningful conversations are usually more valuable than dozens of rushed introductions.

Taylor Jones, Director of Business Development at Swingle Collins & Associates and a member of the RISE Strategic Planning Board, recommends looking for a clear purpose before committing.

“Early on, I said yes to almost everything because I thought presence equaled value. Now I look at the agenda, the attendee list if I can get it, and I think about which relationships actually need an in-person touchpoint versus a phone call or a quick note. If an event doesn’t have a clear ‘why,’ I let it go.”

If possible, schedule your most important meetings in advance. Reaching out before the event makes the conversation warmer and removes some of the pressure to find the right people in a crowded reception.

Caroline Haga, Associate Director at Howden Re and a member of the RISE Strategic Planning Board, considers both client needs and the people she can learn from when deciding where to invest her time.

“I believe it is incredibly important to surround ourselves with highly driven individuals who are not only dedicated to their job, but willing to help others. As my father always told me, ‘If you are the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.’”

The right event should place you in rooms where you can contribute, learn and build relationships that would be difficult to develop elsewhere.

Stop Treating Every Invitation Like an Obligation

During a conference, there may be a breakfast, educational session, lunch, reception, client dinner and late-night gathering all in one day. You can technically attend everything, but that does not mean you should.

Not every invitation deserves a yes.

Evaluate each activity based on your goals for the event. If a dinner gives you an opportunity to spend time with an important client or develop a new relationship, attend it. If another reception is unlikely to create meaningful value and you are already running on empty, it may be time to go back to your room.

Protecting your energy is not antisocial. It allows you to be more present when you do choose to participate.

Haga offers an important reminder for an industry in which being present can sometimes feel mandatory:

“Saying no to a conference or event is okay. While insurance is an extremely social industry and there is something to be said about how important it can be to be present, it is okay to say no when necessary. Family and personal life can, and should, take priority. Remember: this is insurance; it will still be here tomorrow. We are saving PDFs, not lives.”

Sometimes the best decision is to decline an invitation, protect your priorities and show up fully for the opportunities that matter most.

Build Recovery Time Into the Schedule

One of the biggest mistakes we make is scheduling every available minute and assuming we will recover later.

Instead, block small periods of recovery into your event schedule. Even 20 minutes alone can make a difference. Use that time to take a walk, eat something, answer urgent emails or simply sit somewhere quiet.

Matt DeBernardi, Director of the Professional Services Group at RLI Insurance Company and a member of the RISE Strategic Planning Board, encourages attendees to treat personal time as an essential part of the schedule.

“Set time aside for yourself. That could be getting up early to go for a run, getting to bed early to rest up before a busy day, or just giving yourself a break to decompress in the middle of the day between meetings.”

Recovery time also includes leaving realistic space between commitments. Trying to be everywhere at once can quickly create unnecessary stress.

“If you have an unrealistic schedule and are stretched so thin that you’re late or missing meetings as a result, stress and panic are going to set in fast,” DeBernardi says. “If you have a meeting three blocks away, build in a buffer to make it back for your next meeting. You don’t want to show up to a client meeting sweating and out of breath from sprinting to get there. I’ve done it, and it’s not a good look!”

Try not to book an important internal meeting immediately after a late flight home. If possible, give yourself a buffer before jumping into another demanding day. You may not always be able to take the entire next day off, but you can avoid creating unnecessary pressure.

Recovery should be part of the plan, not something you earn after becoming completely exhausted.

Maintain the Basics

Event schedules can quickly disrupt the habits that help us feel our best. Meals become appetizers at receptions. Water is replaced by coffee. Sleep gets pushed aside because someone suggests “one more stop.”

You do not need to follow your normal routine perfectly, but a few basic habits will help:

• Drink water throughout the day.
• Eat at least one real meal.
• Carry a snack when schedules are unpredictable.
• Limit late nights when you have an early morning.
• Take a walk or fit in a short workout when possible.
• Give yourself permission to leave before everyone else.

Jones makes time for movement even when her schedule is packed.

“No matter how packed the schedule, I make time for a workout, even just 20 to 30 minutes to get some miles in. I’ve also been known to call the front desk and ask for weights or a yoga mat to be sent to the room. It gives me the energy boost I need when transitioning from daytime meetings to evening events.”

The routine that helps you reset does not need to be complicated. Haga takes five minutes before client dinners to call home and check in with her fiancé, which helps her re-center and reduce stress.

These choices may seem small, but they directly affect your focus, patience and ability to connect with other people.

Create Boundaries With Your Regular Work

The work waiting back at the office is often what makes event travel feel overwhelming.

Before leaving, identify what truly needs to be completed and what can wait. Delegate where appropriate and let your team know when you will be available. Consider setting one or two specific times to check email rather than responding throughout every session and conversation.

If you spend the entire conference working from your phone, you miss the value of being there. If you ignore everything for several days, you may return to an unmanageable backlog. The goal is to find a reasonable middle ground.

Clear communication with your team and clients can prevent most issues before they happen. It also allows you to remain present in the conversations you traveled to have.

Network Like a Human

Networking becomes exhausting when it feels like a performance.

You do not need the perfect introduction, an impressive pitch or a stack of business cards. Start with genuine curiosity. Ask someone what brought them to the event, what they are working on or what challenges they are seeing in the industry.

Focus on learning about the person rather than deciding immediately what they can do for you.

Haga recommends asking mentors to help make thoughtful introductions.

“One of the best ways I have been able to meet people is by asking my mentors to introduce me to anyone they think I should meet, as well as those they consider to be mentors. Good people are always willing to help other good people if you ask and are genuine during the meeting.”

She also emphasizes that introductions should never be one-sided.

“You need to ensure you not only keep up with who you were introduced to, but also introduce others to the person who connected you if you see a way they could work together or be beneficial to one another.”

DeBernardi takes a similarly intentional approach by deciding in advance whom he wants to meet and which sessions matter most.

“If you prioritize what means most to you and you see that through, the event was a success and everything else is an added bonus.”

You should also give yourself permission to step away when you need a break. Being introverted, tired or overwhelmed does not mean you are bad at networking. It means you are human.

Follow Up Before Moving to the Next Event

Event season can become a blur of introductions that never turn into actual relationships.

Within a few days, send a short personal message to the people you want to stay connected with. Mention something specific from your conversation and, when appropriate, suggest a next step.

Jones says one of her biggest mistakes earlier in her career was not following up after events.

“I’d leave a conference with a stack of business cards and good intentions but fail to send a thank you to the person who spent time with me. The ROI of a conference is so much stronger when you take a few minutes to send a quick LinkedIn note or email mentioning how you met or something specific you enjoyed from the conversation.”

You do not need to follow up with every person whose badge you scanned. Prioritize the relationships that were meaningful and relevant.

A thoughtful follow-up is what turns a conference conversation into a professional connection, mentorship, friendship or business opportunity.

Pay Attention to the Warning Signs

Burnout rarely arrives all at once. It usually appears through small signals:

• You are unusually irritable or impatient.
• You stop feeling excited about events you normally enjoy.
• You struggle to focus during conversations.
• You feel anxious about the work waiting at home.
• You are constantly tired, even after sleeping.
• You find yourself withdrawing from colleagues or family.

For Haga, a change in enthusiasm is the clearest sign.

“When I start feeling less enthusiastic about work, I know I am doing too much. As someone who loves their job and this industry, when I start to feel anything below happy, I know I am due for a reset.”

DeBernardi experiences a similar signal when travel stops feeling like an opportunity and starts feeling like something to dread.

“Most trips should have a level of excitement tied to them as they approach, but when I look at my American app and see six flights in seven weeks, I start to feel that pit in my stomach thinking about all the time away from home.”

When frequent travel cannot be avoided, he recommends being more intentional about time at home and remembering the people carrying additional responsibilities while you are away.

“For a lot of us, there is someone at home doing twice the work while we’re gone, so a little appreciation goes a long way.”

Do not wait until you are completely depleted to make a change. Skip an event. Shorten a trip. Decline a dinner. Ask for help. Rework your schedule.

There will always be another conference and another opportunity. Protecting your health and your relationships is more important than being seen everywhere.

 

Make Event Season Work for You

The insurance industry is built on relationships, and events will continue to be an important part of how we learn, connect and grow. But showing up should not require sacrificing your well-being.

Be selective. Set clear goals. Protect your time. Take care of the basics. Focus on meaningful relationships instead of trying to do everything.

The most successful person at a conference is not necessarily the one who attended every function or stayed out the latest. It is the person who leaves with stronger relationships, useful insights and enough energy to put those opportunities into action.

Event season should help build your career, not leave you too burned out to enjoy it.

Plan Your Event Season With RISE 

Ready to decide which opportunities deserve a place on your calendar? Log in to the RISE Community to explore upcoming industry conferences, RISE pop-ups, webinars and networking opportunities. Choose the events that align with your goals, connect with members who may be attending and build an event season that moves your career forward without stretching you too thin.

Log in now and visit the RISE Event Calendar to see what’s coming next.