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Step Out of Your Comfort Zone: On Going to a Conference in a Strange City All By Yourself

by Kristen King on May 3rd, 2008

I’m a nervous traveller, I hate crowds, and I have a constant fear of becoming lost in strange cities and never being found (despite being literate, owning a cell phone, and never having left the country). Yesterday, I flew to Chicago by myself to attend a conference (SOBCon08) where I didn’t know a single person in a city I had never visited, where I have been sharing a hotel room with a complete stranger from another country. I couldn’t sleep for the two days before because of being totally freaked out, and when my plane was briefly diverted because of weather, I started having palpitations. I found myself thinking that this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

But check it out: This has been one of the best weekends of my life.

I have met DOZENS of amazing people, I’ve learned more than all of the conferences I’ve attended previously to date, and I’ve forged what I believe will be some lasting personal and professional relationships that I am VERY excited about.

And one particular presentation stood out to be, delivered by Wendy Piersall of Sparkplugging.com (formerly eMoms at Home). Some of my favorite quotes from her talk:

“In order for my [business] to grow, I had to grow with it.”

“Get our of your comfort zone. It’s not pretty, but you gotta do it.”

(in response to “I need more time”): “There is no more time. I need more YOU.”

I’ll be discussing the other sessions in more detail at my freelance writing blog Inkthinker next week since this is a blogging conference, but rest assured, I’ll highlight the relevant business info over here so you don’t miss anything. I’ll also be getting more into networking with some specific examples from this event, so stay tuned.

Tags: women and business, women in business, women, woman, business, conference, seminar, annual meeting, blogging, traveling for business, business travel, traveling alone, wendy piersall, sparkplugging, biz chicks rule, kristen king

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POSTED IN: Presentations & Public Speaking, Professional Development