“I’m at a conference,” is often code for: I found a great way for my job to pay for a vacation. But don’t dismiss these opportunities for what they really are: your professional development and a chance to get out of your chair in the office and into the rest of the world.

A lot of people may go to professional events but not know what they’re doing there --other than to eat free food or try out some exotic locale. Or even worse, many likely pass up on networking events, training, or presentation opportunities because they’re too intimidated by not knowing anyone else attending. The fear of the unknown setting can be particularly tough on introverts who prefer to get energy from themselves anyway, rather than crowds of people.

Most companies recognize the importance of learning new techniques, refreshing old ones, and giving value to building active communities and set aside funds for staff development. However, if you’re not in one of these categories, if you have a spare weekend, or desire to improve yourself, then self-identifying a conference is a great way to re-energize, get more ideas, and further build a network of people who may be interested in similar topics. The spring is often conference season: I found myself thinking how glad I was I had participated in two in the month of April – though it makes life very hectic.

In mid April I was a part of a panel at one of the largest academic conferences on writing held in the U.S. The conference had around 3,000 people attending and I had about 15 minutes on a four person panel talking about participatory cultures; each of us spoke about a different part of the world and their online communities. This experience at as “newcomer” (they even had a table for us first timers) to this huge conference reminded me of why conferences are overwhelming – and important.

For those just stretching their professional wings, starting with local events can be a good step. In Qatar, many of these events are free. There are as many events as there are people; in one week you could go to something at the Mathaf museum, or the Qatar Professional Women’s Network, or Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation and Carnegie Mellon Qatar’s translation conference.

There are lectures offered weekly and monthly by other organizations such as the Brookings Doha Center. These are low risk as they are local, free, and if you wander around for more than ten minutes without saying hi to anyone, you can always leave. Guaranteed, however, is that if you go to enough of these in Qatar, you will start to recognize familiar faces.

One basic way to meet people in a meaningful way, whether at a small event in Doha or large international gathering, is to ask questions. When you ask questions, people notice you, and they have been thinking along similar lines. This can often lead to a conversation after the event with someone you may not have known.

Another way, if you are presenting, is to get to know your panelists better by having coffee or lunch following your presentation.

You’ll find most conferences have socials in the evening, where you can tour the cit y you’re visiting, or meals in an interesting place. While sometimes these may be tedious, scanning a program to something of interest is another natural way to start a conversation.

Remember: You don’t have to the conference extrovert: being everywhere, all the time. Pick your moments and the people you hope to meet. The most helpful person is not always the keynote speaker or the most well known. These people may not have time to chat about your latest idea, or introduce you to others.

But the conference organizer, the person who puts together panels or those sitting at information desks can often be excellent sources of information and are involved in the event because they are passionate about what they are working on.

Ultimately you can’t benefit if you don’t show up. Using other people as a resource is a great way to take a break from your own responsibilities and be trained yourself. Being your own manager is the critical for anyone in the modern workforce.