Conference attendee selection might be agonizing at your organization because 1) everyone wants to go, or; 2) it’s just the opposite and you resort to drawing straws and the short one is sent off. Budgets are tight, you've set goals as to what you want to accomplish and you want the most out of your resources — financial and human. What do you do? Work backwards. The secret is to have enough managerial insight to envision that ideal attendee's behavior pre-, during and post-conference. When deciding who to represent your organization for conference attendance, select someone who just gets giddy over the end result that you want and the expectations set forth. Here's how to picture them:

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