In February of this year, LinkedIn opened its platform to long-form publishing through a program called LinkedIn Publisher. Building off the success of its LinkedIn Influencer program, where industry experts like Richard Branch and Martha Stewart post long-form content, LinkedIn decided to expand the opportunity to all members. Initially just 25,000 members were offered the ability to publish long-form content, but others can gain access through an application process.

The application process is fairly simple, requiring simply your name, email, LinkedIn profile URL and two links to examples of professional content you’ve written. I was accepted as a writer within a couple of days after submitting my application, although there is no standard reply time. If you’re not accepted right away, don’t worry. LinkedIn says the platform will be open to all members in the future.

Conferences can be a great place to network and get up to speed on best practices within your industry, but getting the most out of attending a conference or event is about more than just showing up. Once you’ve registered for the conference, what can you do to prepare?

Look at the conference agenda and find out who will be speaking

Especially for larger conferences with multiple panels, I always review the conference agenda in advance to plot my plan of attack. First, I circle any panelists I’ve met previously, and I highlight any panelists I’d like to meet.

For panelists I’ve already met, I generally send them an email two to four weeks before the conference. If it’s someone I’ve only met once and had little contact with since, I’ll remind them in the email how we previously met. I let each of them know I will be attending the conference and look forward to seeing them again. I always tell students in my networking lectures: make it easy for people to remember you.

You can stop there. Letting them know you’ll be there puts you on their radar. Maybe now they’ll look for you in the crowd or during lunch or happy hour. They’re also more likely to recognize and remember you if you approach them at the conference.

You can also go one step further.