As a Bett veteran, I’ve learnt quite a bit over the last 30 or so years about how to make the visit to Bett as useful as possible. Here are some tips you may find useful.

Do pre-planning

Lots of articles tell you to plan what you’re going to do at the event, as I have (below). However, I think perhaps the first step is to think about why you want to go in the first place — especially if you can only get there for one day. If you set out to see everything, you’ll probably end up seeing hardly anything because you’ll be too exhausted by lunchtime to take anything in!

Once you’ve decided what you mainly want to find out about or learn, then you can start planning what you’re going to do when.

Plan your visit

Identify a few seminars or stands to go to. Try to plan it ergonomically, meaning that you try to avoid traipsing backwards and forwards. Do make sure you allow time to get from A to B: it often takes longer than you think. Sometimes, it’s quicker to go out of the hall and walk along the outside.

If possible, allow an hour or so for wandering around aimlessly, because you never now what gems you might come across that you missed in (or were absent from) the programme.

A note for those with pacemakers

If you wear a pacemaker you should ask your doctor whether it's safe for you to go to the Bett show, given the amount of wi-fi there will be there.

Book in advance

Register online. Doing so will save you time when you get there.

Specially for visitors…

If you are coming from abroad, but also if you live in the UK but outside London, have a look at the page about planning your visit to Excel (where the event takes place).

Look into travel cards and Oyster

Top up your Oyster card if you have one, or look at the options on Transport for London’s fares page.

Download the Bett app

I can’t see it on the Bett website but it’s in the app store. It contains details of all the sessions, speakers, exhibitors, and people who wish to connect with you (if you’ve registered — so register for Bett first if you haven’t already done so). You can add events to a personal schedule in the app too. To be honest, I find it easier to navigate the app than I do the website, especially from a phone. The app has definitely improved over the years. Back in 2015 I wrote:

“I think it [the app] would have been even better if it enabled you to personalise it by entering events in your calendar, and if it had included this guide [my Bett guide]. Still, it’s a big improvement on having to walk around with a huge tome to find out what’s on and where.”

Read the new Bett blog

The posts there give a bit more information about some of the sessions.

Read the Bett Preview

If you registered, you should have received a digital copy of the Preview. I received an email saying it was time-limited or something, but I don’t know if that is actually the case.

Bett is so huge, you gotta have a plan. Photo by Terry Freedman

Use Twitter for news

You can keep with news by following Bett on Twitter: @Bett_Show, and searching for #Bett2020. At the time of writing (a week before the Bett Show), all the tweets seem to be self-promotional stuff from companies and speakers. The tweets by people with nothing to promote are by far the most interesting in my opinion. Having said that, some of the information is genuinely useful, such as the LGfL-related tweets from @johnjackson1066.

Print (or buy) a set of business cards

These are essential for entering competitions and, more importantly, for having information sent to you after the show. Also, of course, for exchanging details with any new acquaintanceships you make at the show. You can create a simple business card in Word (or similar), and you can buy perforated business card printer paper at a very reasonable price.

Buy a set of good quality business cards

I have never really understood the idea of having cheap business cards to give to other people. In my opinion, cheap business cards feel cheap. They’re fine for putting into boxes or jars for a prize draw, but not to represent yourself to other people.

Your business card represents you. Do you really want to convey the impression, however subliminally, that you don’t consider yourself worth investing a bit of money in?

Buy a business card holder

Taking a card out of a proper holder looks a bit more professional than fishing an old dog-eared one of your purse or back pocket. It gives you a decent place to store others’ cards too.

Buy a small stapler

This is useful for stapling your business cards to various forms on stands, such as the ones they provide for entering competitions. For some reason, exhibitors never seem to have a stapler themselves – must be a health and safety rule. Completing the same contact information over and over again is tedious and time-consuming – and in my case pointless because my handwriting is illegible.

Buy a notebook

I always carry a notebook and pen around with me, because I find it easier to make quick notes in the old-fashioned way than trying to thumb out a note to myself on my phone. However, I am not quite living in the dark ages in this respect though: I tend to use a Moleskine digital notebook and pen.

Compile a stationery kit

This is probably not really necessary unless you intend to stay over and make loads of notes, but I’ll offer it anyway. When I was an Ofsted inspector I put together such a “kit” so I could work on the train, in school and in the hotel, annotating documents. Almost invariably, such tasks had to be done on paper, so I found having post-it notes, highlighters and other bits and pieces like elastic bands, paper clips and, yes, that stapler again, pretty handy.

But the thing is, at Bett, you might as well pick up a load of post-it notes, notebooks and pens while you’re there. And as for paper clips etc, exactly how much paper do you intend collecting?

Buy a good capacity USB stick

Sometimes someone will offer to let you have a document or presentation. If you have a USB stick with you they may be able to give it to you right away rather than emailing it later.

Buy a good capacity memory card

If, for example, your camera takes an SD card, you ought really to take a spare one along if you intend taking lots of video clips.

Buy a spare battery

For your camera, for instance, if you haven’t already got one.

Make lists

Prepare lists of questions to ask the suppliers of particular products, if you are looking to purchase something. Different members of your team may have different questions, as suggested elsewhere: see 8 Sample questions to ask suppliers.

Do some team planning

With your team, decide on who is going to do what (if others are going as well). It is a good idea to avoid the temptation to fill every waking moment. I have found that you need to allow for serendipity, especially as some exhibitors are not listed until the last minute. I have also found that every so often you need to find a place to have coffee, think about what you have seen, plan ahead, and get rid of any unwanted paper you may have acquired on your travels.

Organise cover lessons if necessary

If technicians will be attending as well, try and select a day when the school’s computer facilities tend not to be in high demand, just in case something goes wrong. You should still ensure that at least one stays behind though.

Compile contact details

Prepare a list of phone numbers that the school secretary or someone else can contact for help if something dreadful happens.

Think of your feet

Buy comfortable shoes if you don’t already have a pair. Walking around all day on a thick carpet on a concrete floor is no joke.

Make a note of web access details

If you have the facility to do things like upload pictures from your phone to a website, or send an SMS to your blog in order to publish it as a blog post, make sure you have learnt or written down the access details you need.

Find out my personal recommendations

I am hoping to prepare some recommendations, either in blog posts or my usual Bett guide.

An essential…

On the way to the show, buy a bottle of water, because show prices tend to be higher than outside.

My Bett Guide

I am hoping that my guide to Bett, which is completely unofficial and independent, will be available soon. If I am able to complete it (work has been manic recently), then once it’s ready, I’ll give the heads up to subscribers to Digital Education (see below). Then, after a while, I’ll make it more generally available. This year, the guide may take the form of a series of articles rather than a pdf.

Another thing you may wish to do is buy my guide to how to get the most benefit from education conferences. It’s a few years old now, but it hasn’t dated because the tips are generic, and far more detailed, covering far more ground, than I’ve managed here or will manage in my Bett guide. And it’s still only 99p or 99c!

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