Las Vegas… the Introvert’s Nightmare
Over the last 2 months I have experienced an introvert’s nightmare and it’s called Las Vegas. I have been there for 3 different conferences where I have spoken. The reason that this is a nightmare for introverts is because no matter where you go, there are people everywhere. Literally it seems the only place that an introvert can go to recharge is the hotel room. Over the past 2 years I have attended almost a dozen different conferences. Because of that, I have had to learn some tricks in order to survive. If you have to do a similar thing with conferences regardless of where they are, let me share just a couple of ways that I handle the need for “alone time.”
Most of the conferences I attend are IT-related and I represent an IT vendor. There is a demand by both customers and my own co-workers to spend a lot of time together. Some of this is necessary for work but it reduces my ability to recharge. One way I have found to get away to get some “recharging” time however is at lunch. Generally lunches are in a huge ballroom with thousands of your closest friends. The noise inside can be deafening. What I have found is that I can always get a to-go box from one of the serving staff. I load up the box with whatever food seems appealing (another time I’ll write about the food) and then take it somewhere into the conference center. I find an unused breakout room where I can generally eat in peace for a while. Magically at the end of the lunch, I feel recharged and ready to tackle the afternoon.
In the evenings there are almost always events where the conference attendees go. Most of the attendees are in a partying mood while my introverted self is exhausted. Generally I have a need to go as a representative of my employer. I find that I can go without much trouble but I do not necessarily need to hang out with the same group for the entire evening and night. After spending an appropriate time with the group, I’ll usually say something to someone in the group like “Excuse me for a minute”. After saying that, I move on to find a drink and then somehow continue out of the event. Because of the nature of the event your group will think that you ran into someone else that got your attention. Meantime, I’ve headed to a restaurant or food court to pick up some food and head back to my room later for that “recharging” time again. If I see someone from that group later in the evening or the next day I just explain that I got caught up in something else.
While I enjoy the conferences and get a lot of good information, they can be very draining. Add the fact that it’s in Las Vegas where it seems that there are people everywhere, I have found these couple of techniques effective. There are several other things that I do that I will share in another blog post. If you have any tips for handling these big conferences as an introvert please share here as a comment. It will help your fellow introverts to find ways to recharge in a normally introvert-hostile environment.
