On Saturday (11/14), the Detroit Adcraft Club held their 17th Annual AdCon for people looking to get into advertising. Contacts. Seminars. Interviews. Portfolio/resume reviews. A previous commitment kept me from participating, but I did attend the pre-AdCon Mixer on Friday (above) and met a lot of cool students.

I've been on both sides of AdCon - a job seeker and a job speaker. I'm sure everyone found it as beneficial as I did. People need opportunities like AdCon more than ever. If you're blessed to still be employed and find yourself as a featured event speaker, what can you do to keep these events relevant? Too often, advice is only given to attendees on how to conduct themselves at events (bring lots or resumes, dress appropriately, etc.). What about the people they came to meet? If you choose to participate on a panel at any career fair, I think you have an obligation to try and make them as meaningful as possible for the attendees.

Here's a quick checklist to help you be a bit more memorable as a speaker/panelist:

• Business Cards. It sounds like a no-brainer, but it's not uncommon for a participant to show up without cards or not enough. To the participant's defense, sometimes we are asked to be a part of these events at short notice. Or, if it's during the workday, we get caught up with our jobs and end up running out the door to make the job fair. But if you aren't distributing cards because you don't want to put yourself "out there," then don't participate.  And let's be honest, most of them won't call you. Attendees, if you don't build on these new relationships, it's your loss.
• Work Samples. People want to see what you do. Show them. Whether you're creative or account, bring your reel or the agency's samples. Believe me, it's far more engaging to be more than just a talking head.
• Be Approachable. The actual job interviews will be intimidating enough. Right now, it's your job to work the room and let the attendees pick your brain. As attendees, it's your job to come to us and ask questions. We won't bite. If you prefer to sit and observe, again, it's your loss.
• Co-workers. This is optional. But it's always easier to keep things moving when you can tag-team speaking events. As a copywriter, I sometimes pair up with an art director for a fuller creative perspective. Or, one creative and one account executive works equally well. Pretend you love each other just for the day
• Shwag. This is optional too, but it works. I call my co-workers for leftover giveaways - t-shirts, mugs, key chains etc. Most cases, they will be happy to "dump" items on you, because that stuff has been taking up needed space somewhere. Events involving high school students can be like talking to a brick wall. But the minute you hand a kid a t-shirt for asking an engaging question (or asking the first question), hands start popping up. In the end, you survive the presentation and your co-workers get more office space by cleaning out their closets. If that ain't a win-win...

None of these take much effort to pull off a better event. Remember, in many cases, people pay to attend these career fairs.

They pay to meet you.

Respect that enough to give them their money's worth and pass on your knowledge.