The purpose of Building Content has been to encourage and instruct architects in the ways of professional blogging. Having been selected by Architizer.com to attend and blog about the Coverings2010 trade show in Orlando, I now humbly suggest three things NOT to do as a traveling Guest Blogger

Even if your assigned event is only an hour long, don’t go without a smart phone of some sort.
Access to your Twitter and Facebook accounts (as well as to other industry-specific community sites, such as Architizer) will allow you to post moment by moment updates. Beyond the obvious reasons for Tweeting your on-the-scene-experiences, there are two additional benefits. At the event, once you hit “tweet” your mind is clear of that thought and you’re ready for the next encounter (no mental notes required) and, after the event, when you do sit down to compose a blog post, you have a body of retrievable impressions to work from.

 
How I know this: I used a digital camera for images and a sketchbook for notes to compose my posts later. This combination worked earlier in my carrier, but it’s all we had then. This time a smart phone with web access and the appropriate apps would have allowed me to merge real-time words and images for even better blog content. Learn to work with the best tools you can get your hands on.

 Even if you tend to be frugal personally, don’t cut costs at the risk of jepordizing professionalism.
Unless your event and your accommodations are on airport property, or you find a driver holding a card with your name on it, you will have ground transportation choices to make. Taxis from the airport cost more but are more timely than shuttle circuits or public transportation. Daily car rental will likely be the most expensive, but most dependable, form of local transportation. Don’t loose control over your schedule and timely arrivals; plan ahead for these links. Oh, and have some tip money handy.

 
How I know this: My sponsors had forwarded me a check calculated to cover the taxi fair to and from the airport. Nice perk, right? Well, my big idea was to pay for the less expensive round trip shuttle service and apply the difference to the airline’s checked baggage fees. The math worked. The problem – money is time, and I lost hours of it in that choice. I arrived to the hotel after the lunch gathering and would have missed the Disney by Design tour if not for a wonderfully patient guide (thanks again, Nichole).
 

Even if you regularly blog in your pajamas, you’re being sent to an industry event. Dress the part.
Face it, some of us blog (or hope to one day) in order to ditch the corporate culture of grave-sized cubicles, paperwork tedium and company dress codes. (These non-conformity traits may have begun in preschool with checkmarks next to ”does not play well with others.”) However you choose to conduct yourself at home is your business, but when you are invited to a place of other people’s business, respect that industry and its leaders. Dress and present yourself appropriately.

How I know this: No, I didn’t arrive in Florida wearing sandals and a flowered shirt. There were no Mickey Mouse ears either. Fortunately, I had learned this lesson long before I’d ever heard of blogging. In preparation I determined the event’s expected attire (and packed an extra change of said attire for “just in case”) and I filled my identification badge cover with a thick stack of business cards. This part I got right.
 
 

Fellow bloggers, I hope these tips, some learned the hard way, serve you well on occasions when you are invited to guest blog at such an event. Feel free to share your story or add your advice below.

Now, add your own content and make this a conversation; please comment below.