If the majority of your fall season is spent shuttling between diversity conferences across the country, simplify your packing approach so you can focus on meeting great candidates, building your talent pipeline, and preparing to move candidates quickly through the offer process. The below packing tips will help make your diversity conference packing strategy as seamless as possible.
- Neutral color palette. Stick with one color palette while traveling, which should be neutral-toned (black, gray, navy, camel). Every piece of clothing you pack should work together, allowing you to pack less. If too many neutrals makes you feel color deprived, pack colorful accessories that don’t take up valuable suitcase space, such as patterned ties or bright scarves to change up your look.
- Heavy to light. Pack heaviest to lightest to avoid wrinkling your clothes. Pack shoes at the bottom of the suitcase, then fold stiffer clothing items (denim, wool) and top off the suitcase with rolled softer fabrics. This will enable easy unpacking as soon as you get to your hotel, and reduce the need to pull out the hotel iron.
- Prepare in advance. Check both the weather forecast and your itinerary before you pack. A brief look at the forecast can prevent a suitcase of silk and suede, during three days of rain. Checking your itinerary will help you to pack only exactly what you need, to save valuable suitcase space.
- Restock between trips. Keep your toiletry bag packed and ready to go at all times, so you don’t have to scramble gathering your go-to products before walking out the door. When you arrive home from a trip, spend 10 minutes replenishing the travel containers, so your bag is already travel-ready prior to your next trip.
- Use every inch. Take advantage of every last inch of your suitcase. Fill any spare pairs of shoes with smaller items to make room for the larger items that still need to fit in your bag. Use your shoes as a storage container for socks, belts, ties, undergarments and lightweight pajamas.
- Carry-on only. When you’re a frequent traveler, the faster you can leave the airport, the better! Checking your bag can add unnecessary time to your trip that could be better spent unwinding in your hotel room before a busy career fair, or arriving home after a hectic week. Follow the above tips to ensure your belongings can easily fit in a carry-on suitcase.
- Reduce paper. If the travel and expense platform your company uses has an app, immediately upload all receipts to avoid a collection you need to sort through upon return to the office. If there is not an app available, take a photo of every receipt on your phone, and save them to a trip-specific folder so you can easily upload them to your next expense report. If your company does not offer a product that organizes your online travel, consider downloading an app like TripIt before you leave to ensure all of your travel arrangements are stored in one location.
- Start fresh each trip. When you return from a trip, empty your travel bag/briefcase, to remove all unnecessary documents, agendas, event materials and trash. This will lighten your load when it’s time to pack up your bags to travel to the next conference.
Are you looking to further streamline your diversity conference experience? Find out how event management software can help.
