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Attending a work related conference takes a lot of considerations.  It is not just the cost of the event itself, but also the time away from your business, the work you need to do afterward to play catch up, the time away from family, having someone change their schedule to look after the kids/pets and the most important thing for me – will it even be worth all the hassle and the investment?

“Not to be selfish, but my time is valuable and I put a very high price on any event that takes me away from both my family and work commitments. MYOB Partner Connect is no different when considering if I need to be there.”

When the dates and speakers were released for the annual MYOB Partner Connect conference, I booked a ticket I think in the first 3 minutes.  It was a no brainer.  I mean Cosentino the illusionist, Janine Allis from Boost Juice/Sharktank fame not to mention various other speakers which were on a personal development level. I spend so much time working in the business (which I do love), but this is my chance to work on me. And work on how I plan to grow and scale my business. And that truly excites me.

I should have known getting to the conference was going to be a logistical challenge and I should have seen the early signs when 3 days out from the conference hubby “forgot” he had to pick up the kids from school at 3:30pm for the 3 days whilst I was away.

After coming to an agreement (in the form of after school care) the second hurdle came the day before the conference started when I was driving to Melbourne.  10 minutes after leaving home I get the dreaded call from school saying my youngest son was in sick bay and if I could come and get him.

“Are you serious?  Today of all days? Yes that was exactly my first thought.”

But as a working mum, if there is one skill I have mastered over the years, it is just “making it work”.  I just have an uncanny knack of getting the solution I want, all be it in a roundabout kind of way.

So I bundled up Master 6 (complete with spew bag) in the car and off we took to Melbourne.  I called in to the doctors on the way to the hotel, to get him checked and to get blood thinners for me (hereditary condition which is aggravated the more I sit and I already had leg pains from two prior weeks of conferences and flying interstate).

I begged the hotel to let me check in early so Master 6 could sleep and I could do my pre planned webinars and client calls.  Hubby then came to collect Master 6 and take him back to Ballarat so I could then finally relax and get ready for the conference which started early the next morning.

“So when people think going to a conference is “just another perk”, or that it is “just a big holiday” – think again. Normally I am totally exhausted and stretched to the max before I even turn up.”

You have just potentially totally offended me by all the factors I have considered as to whether or not I need to be at that conference at all.  You have offended all the organisation that has gone in behind the scenes to make sure my staff and clients are under control, my family is under control and that to the outside world it is business as usual.

Trust me when I say, finally making it to MYOB Partner Connect Thursday morning felt like an over whelming, exhausting effort and the conference had not even started yet.  But one sight of the purple balloons, neon MYOB sign and mention of free hot chocolates – and I was bouncing around with excitement.  Bring it on !