Later this week I will be heading down to Orlando for IBM Connect.  This is my 9th Lotusphere/Connect and over the years I have come up with a method for planning my schedule and keeping up with it while at the event.  I warn you in advance this involves printing (yes printing) and despite all the mobile devices and calendars, I have stuck with this system as it works for me.

Step 1: Plan your schedule

Thanks to Mat Newman and his team there is once again a Notes Database for planning your schedule, between that and the conference site which allows you to plan your schedule, and export as an ics file, getting all your session on to your Notes Calendar is easy.  I add to that any meetings, and events I want to attend and one week out my calendar looks something like this.

Step 2: Printing your calendar

Select the options as show above, ‘Print Calendar to a document’, ‘Calendar list’ and the date range you want, I print each day of the conference to its own document.  On the right hand side select at a minimum location and any other information you might want.

I get a lot of funny looks when I tell people that I print my calendar, but here are some of the reasons why I still print

1. Once the event starts things tend to change quickly, meetings move, new meeting requests come in, it is easy to mark changes down on paper.

2. I write down on this paper different things that happen during the day, people I met, things I want to remember, phone numbers, anything I might want to capture during the day.  When I get back home I have all my general notes for each day in one place.

3. It is visually easier to sort out on paper, especially when I double and triple book various time slots and make last minute decisions where to go.

If you selected the options above to print you wind up with something that looks like this, which besides being able to print, you can also Forward the document as an email, so if you want to share your schedule with your colleagues attending the event this is an easy way to do it.

So there you have it, a little old school printing out my daily schedule but for one week every year it works for me.