Conference Travel Tips
shoemoney
·
·
8 min read
I've traveled quite a bit now to about 25 different conferences in the last three or four years. I've picked up a few things on the way, and I'd like to share them with you.
Always Get 2 Beds @ a your hotel
One of my favorite tips, is always get two beds in the hotel you're staying at. It's a pretty good tip, and it actually happened to me the first time on accident. The hotel was out of king beds, and I decided it was fine, and to just do it. It's like having a huge extra table in your hotel room. Always do it if your staying by yourself, or with somebody, well actually probably only if you're staying by yourself. It's amazing because nobody wants two beds, so they are always available, and it provides an extra space to put all your stuff you got at the conference and also a place to lay out your clothes.
Take some food
The second tip is to pack food. Sure you can always get room service, but to get some chicken nuggets will cost you $40. What I do is pack protein shakes and protein bars, because I usually don't want a full meal, I just need something in my stomach. I recently visited Medterra CBD where I came across some brilliant medical uses of cannabis, which I will be taking for my trips.
Get a fridge for that food
The third tip is in your hotel, request a refrigerator. Only one time I've had to pay for it, and it's really nice to have one in your room. If you do get room service or if on you're way out of the conference you grab three or four sodas, it's so nice to have them available later. They aren't in the regular bar fridge, where the hotel charges you $5 per pop. Also, bring protein shakes, I usually bring a case, and drink two to three a day. They are really filling and are filled with nutrients and vitamins and will also help to rehydrate you. Also another part about getting a free refrigerator, is tell them that you need it for your diabetic medicine or your wife's breast milk. That works really well, they have tons of fridges, especially in Las Vegas. If they don't have one at that hotel, they can go to another property and get you one.
Make sure you hydrate
This leads me to my next tip. More towards drinking. Some of you may know that I drink a little bit at these conferences. One of my favorite tips is while you are drinking, also drink water. So every time you order a drink also order a water. These conferences are fun and there is so a lot to learn, but a lot of times you'll get drunk, and act like an idiot. So pace yourself, and never drink on an empty stomach. Right before you go to bed, I suggest, drinking a protein shake and/or a ton of water. Drink as much water as you can handle, wait 10 minutes, and drink some more water. Also, don't try to mix drinks. I normally don't drink mixed drinks too much, but my favorite drinks are "skinny pirate" which is a diet coke and captain morgan and my other favorite drink is redbull and vodka. Which is usually when I'm tired, most of the time at conferences I get about three or four hours of sleep a night, usually going to bed at 4 am or 5 am.
Just stay at the host hotel you cheap ass
Next conference tip would be to stay at the conference host hotel. I can't tell you how nice it is to always come back to the hotel, or if you need to run something up to your room, you can. Lately I've booked too late to stay at the conference hotel, and most people think it's a good deal to book a cheaper hotel that's $30 or $40 cheaper a night. But here is the thing, you're spending $20 to $30 on a cab each way, so you're spending $40 to $60 on a cab a day, plus it's inconvenient to get up earlier to get to the conference and make time to travel to the conference. You can't just go up to your room and change, somebody tried to give me a bottle of wine, and I wasn't staying at the conference hotel, so I'd have to lug it around all day and night until I went back to my room, and that sucks. So bite the bullet and stay at the conference host hotel even though it might cost you a little more. But, I'm just telling you that it's well, well worth it. There's a lot to be said about just waking up and going down to the conference. It's really nice, in Las Vegas especially, to stay at the Conference Center hotel which is the Renaissance. It's really, really nice, because otherwise people stay all over in Vegas, and it's a pain in the ass to coordinate anything because everybody has to go back to their hotel and change. So just stay at the host hotel.
ShoeMoney hangover recipie
Next tip, would be my hangover recipe. Keep in mind this is what I do and I am a professional. This is obviously geared to those that may consume alcohol. Basically what I do in the morning, this is my little recipe ritual, I'll take two Aleve, two Tylenol and a Gatorade if I have it. Dillsmack recommends Pedialite. I've never had that, but I should try it. I think Gatorade does a really good job replenishing your body after a long night of drinking. Also, water will work but Aleve will give you the good 12 hours of coverage and Tylenol will handle the short term pain relief to knock out that banging headache. So two Tylenol and two aleve, and call me in the morning.
Southwest a-b-c seating tip
This tip is geared towards anybody that flys southwest airlines like I do from Omaha, it's great. You can go nonstop to Las Vegas and other places in the South. The thing is with Southwest, is they don't have assigned seats, they have this A,B and C thing. Everybody seats in these clusters. The A's board first, and then the B's and finally the C's. So a lot of people don't know this but you can check in at 12am the day before your flight online, and the order they assign those are the order that you check in at. So if you check in really early, you'll get A, and that makes it nice for people traveling in groups so you don't get separated for a long flight. I mostly fly by myself, so it's ok, I don't care to check in late, but if I'm with somebody I make sure to check in really early. Now on your way back, you don't have a printer, so you're probably thinking that won't work, but on the contrary even though you can't print it, it still assigns you to the boarding class. So when you get there you can just say I tried to print one, and it didn't print, and they'll be like oh cool, well I'll just print you one.
Learn how the tipping works
Speaking of tipping - Here's a funny story, this one time, it was the first conference I ever went to, and I had gotten like 40 free t-shirts. I had them laid out all over the fricken place, and it was my first conference, and I was just like this is incredible, I can't believe they're giving shirts out for free. Well I left the hotel and went out that night, and when I got back all of my shirts were folded and put away really nicely on the dresser. The funny thing was that I had $40 in ones laying on the bed that was missing. Well I didn't know that if you leave money on the bed, that is the way you tell the maid that is her tip. Otherwise you could leave money anywhere and they would take it. So if you want to tip your maid in your hotel room, leave it on your bed, if you do not want them to take your money, don't leave it on the bed.
Call your Room Number
As soon as you get your room number and you get your little card key, always call your room number. Even if it's a three digit number, that way you will always have that number in your call log. I can never remember which room I'm staying at, especially when I'm talking numbers all day. I can just get out my phone and look through my call log to see what room I'm in.
Well these are my tips. Do you have any to add?
Always Get 2 Beds @ a your hotel
One of my favorite tips, is always get two beds in the hotel you're staying at. It's a pretty good tip, and it actually happened to me the first time on accident. The hotel was out of king beds, and I decided it was fine, and to just do it. It's like having a huge extra table in your hotel room. Always do it if your staying by yourself, or with somebody, well actually probably only if you're staying by yourself. It's amazing because nobody wants two beds, so they are always available, and it provides an extra space to put all your stuff you got at the conference and also a place to lay out your clothes.
Take some food
The second tip is to pack food. Sure you can always get room service, but to get some chicken nuggets will cost you $40. What I do is pack protein shakes and protein bars, because I usually don't want a full meal, I just need something in my stomach. I recently visited Medterra CBD where I came across some brilliant medical uses of cannabis, which I will be taking for my trips.
Get a fridge for that food
The third tip is in your hotel, request a refrigerator. Only one time I've had to pay for it, and it's really nice to have one in your room. If you do get room service or if on you're way out of the conference you grab three or four sodas, it's so nice to have them available later. They aren't in the regular bar fridge, where the hotel charges you $5 per pop. Also, bring protein shakes, I usually bring a case, and drink two to three a day. They are really filling and are filled with nutrients and vitamins and will also help to rehydrate you. Also another part about getting a free refrigerator, is tell them that you need it for your diabetic medicine or your wife's breast milk. That works really well, they have tons of fridges, especially in Las Vegas. If they don't have one at that hotel, they can go to another property and get you one.
Make sure you hydrate
This leads me to my next tip. More towards drinking. Some of you may know that I drink a little bit at these conferences. One of my favorite tips is while you are drinking, also drink water. So every time you order a drink also order a water. These conferences are fun and there is so a lot to learn, but a lot of times you'll get drunk, and act like an idiot. So pace yourself, and never drink on an empty stomach. Right before you go to bed, I suggest, drinking a protein shake and/or a ton of water. Drink as much water as you can handle, wait 10 minutes, and drink some more water. Also, don't try to mix drinks. I normally don't drink mixed drinks too much, but my favorite drinks are "skinny pirate" which is a diet coke and captain morgan and my other favorite drink is redbull and vodka. Which is usually when I'm tired, most of the time at conferences I get about three or four hours of sleep a night, usually going to bed at 4 am or 5 am.
Just stay at the host hotel you cheap ass
Next conference tip would be to stay at the conference host hotel. I can't tell you how nice it is to always come back to the hotel, or if you need to run something up to your room, you can. Lately I've booked too late to stay at the conference hotel, and most people think it's a good deal to book a cheaper hotel that's $30 or $40 cheaper a night. But here is the thing, you're spending $20 to $30 on a cab each way, so you're spending $40 to $60 on a cab a day, plus it's inconvenient to get up earlier to get to the conference and make time to travel to the conference. You can't just go up to your room and change, somebody tried to give me a bottle of wine, and I wasn't staying at the conference hotel, so I'd have to lug it around all day and night until I went back to my room, and that sucks. So bite the bullet and stay at the conference host hotel even though it might cost you a little more. But, I'm just telling you that it's well, well worth it. There's a lot to be said about just waking up and going down to the conference. It's really nice, in Las Vegas especially, to stay at the Conference Center hotel which is the Renaissance. It's really, really nice, because otherwise people stay all over in Vegas, and it's a pain in the ass to coordinate anything because everybody has to go back to their hotel and change. So just stay at the host hotel.
ShoeMoney hangover recipie
Next tip, would be my hangover recipe. Keep in mind this is what I do and I am a professional. This is obviously geared to those that may consume alcohol. Basically what I do in the morning, this is my little recipe ritual, I'll take two Aleve, two Tylenol and a Gatorade if I have it. Dillsmack recommends Pedialite. I've never had that, but I should try it. I think Gatorade does a really good job replenishing your body after a long night of drinking. Also, water will work but Aleve will give you the good 12 hours of coverage and Tylenol will handle the short term pain relief to knock out that banging headache. So two Tylenol and two aleve, and call me in the morning.
Southwest a-b-c seating tip
This tip is geared towards anybody that flys southwest airlines like I do from Omaha, it's great. You can go nonstop to Las Vegas and other places in the South. The thing is with Southwest, is they don't have assigned seats, they have this A,B and C thing. Everybody seats in these clusters. The A's board first, and then the B's and finally the C's. So a lot of people don't know this but you can check in at 12am the day before your flight online, and the order they assign those are the order that you check in at. So if you check in really early, you'll get A, and that makes it nice for people traveling in groups so you don't get separated for a long flight. I mostly fly by myself, so it's ok, I don't care to check in late, but if I'm with somebody I make sure to check in really early. Now on your way back, you don't have a printer, so you're probably thinking that won't work, but on the contrary even though you can't print it, it still assigns you to the boarding class. So when you get there you can just say I tried to print one, and it didn't print, and they'll be like oh cool, well I'll just print you one.
Learn how the tipping works
Speaking of tipping - Here's a funny story, this one time, it was the first conference I ever went to, and I had gotten like 40 free t-shirts. I had them laid out all over the fricken place, and it was my first conference, and I was just like this is incredible, I can't believe they're giving shirts out for free. Well I left the hotel and went out that night, and when I got back all of my shirts were folded and put away really nicely on the dresser. The funny thing was that I had $40 in ones laying on the bed that was missing. Well I didn't know that if you leave money on the bed, that is the way you tell the maid that is her tip. Otherwise you could leave money anywhere and they would take it. So if you want to tip your maid in your hotel room, leave it on your bed, if you do not want them to take your money, don't leave it on the bed.
Call your Room Number
As soon as you get your room number and you get your little card key, always call your room number. Even if it's a three digit number, that way you will always have that number in your call log. I can never remember which room I'm staying at, especially when I'm talking numbers all day. I can just get out my phone and look through my call log to see what room I'm in.
Well these are my tips. Do you have any to add?