When I walked through the doors of my first conference it felt like my first plane ride as a young boy; I was nervous, but very excited. I had enough business cards to fill up the room. I was ready to grow personally, professionally, and build some amazing relationships. As the day went on, I was feeling pretty good; I met a couple new people, took some notes from the speakers, and handed out as many business cards as I could.

Over the next two days I spoke to a couple more people, handed out still more cards, and took more notes. I was learning tons of implementable information and meeting a lot of new people. The feeling was great, but once the conference was over something just didn't feel right. A few weeks went by and I found myself in the same position I was in prior to the conference.

I went to that conference to build relationships, grow personally, and become more successful. Why didn't any of that happen for me? We've all been this person at a conference; we've all left an event feeling like we could have done more. On the other hand, we've all seen the person at the event who befriends everyone, and afterwards you continue to hear about the success he or she is having.

Business conferences, personal growth events, and similar gatherings are an expensive investment of our time and money. However, every event has the potential to change your life. Every event offers you an abundance of opportunities. The problem? Most people are not maximizing their ROI (return on investment) at these events. They simply don't know how to.

The reality is, none of us were ever taught how to succeed at these events. No one sits you down to explain how it works, and you certainly don't learn this in any college course.

After the disappointing outcome of my first conference, I knew something had to change. As Mark Twain said, "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect." If I wanted to get more out of my investment, I had to change my approach to conferences and networking events. I started reading tons of books, articles, and blogs on the subject. After gathering all of the information I could get my hands on, I realized successful networking came down to one thing: providing value for other people.

When I walked into my first conference, I wasn't thinking about how to be of service to others. Like most of us, I was thinking about meeting people who could help me. I was wrong.

That simple mind-set changed the way I interacted with people not just at conferences, but in my every-day life. I started testing that knowledge and finding out what worked and what didn't. Through my failures and successes I perfected the process, and now I'm sharing everything
I've learned with you. All of the best information is compiled into this book with a guide on how to take action.

We all know attending networking events can be a key component to our success. Imagine making an investment and knowing what your return would be beforehand.

You might be thinking... "That sounds a little like insider trading." You would be right. Luckily, this kind is not illegal. This is the book that shows you how to maximize every event you attend so your personal growth accelerates.