PDAC: Survival of the Fittest
“Pace yourself”. Those are the two words I heard time and time again at the slightest mention of PDAC whether it was one’s first or fifteenth time attending. “What exactly do I need to pace?” I thought to myself, as this was my inaugural PDAC experience. When it comes to having the ability to stand at a booth for eight to ten hours a day, followed by post show events, it seems that the mining industry stands in a league of its own! Evidently pacing yourself applies to several things in the context of any typical two day show, but PDAC’s four days in particular:
Your feet – Standing/walking around the show floor for an entire day
Your voice – Talking so much and above so much noise, your voice is bound to fail you
Your food intake – Too much may decrease #4 not enough may seriously affect
Your energy – Over doing it on the floor can be a missed networking opportunity later
Your alcohol intake – Overindulging is always a bad idea, but especially when it might result in missed opportunities
Your sleep – Not enough on the first night makes the next three almost unbearable
Your immune system – Ending up with the “PDAC plague” means being home sick after you’ve already been away from the office for the last five days
There are a handful of superheros that can maintain an all out pace and show up like they’ve had a full eight hours of sleep the next day. For the rest of us, it’s a matter of being smart and prepared.
In anticipating of what I was told to expect at PDAC, I worked with the Dig Media team to make sure that we could help those that didn’t prepare themselves properly and help them endure all four days in Toronto.
You may or may not have seen the Dig Media “Survival Kit” floating around but among other things that we did to ensure Dig Media and the Resource Investing News Network had a presence at PDAC the “Survival Kit” and its treasures inside were in high demand.
Reusable coffee mug – for the several refills you need to keep you going
Hand sanitizer – to keep you as germ free as possible
Vitamins – to keep your immune system strong
ChapStick – especially important in the cold Toronto weather
Citrus-X – for that energy boost to keep you going through the afternoon and into the evening
Pack of gum – morning breath or important meeting
Excedrin – in case of a nasty headache from a late night out I have been to a handful of shows but this was my first time not standing behind a booth. Hearing my colleagues cry “my lips are so dry”, “I feel like I’ve been hit by a bus”, “I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the day”, “ I have the worst cotton mouth” and handing them a Dig Media Survival cup was one of the most satisfying elements of the PDAC experience!
Almost 30,000 people attended this year’s show to meet valuable contacts, learn about great investment opportunities, assess the next trend, learn about new technologies and seek out ways to grow, improve and move their business forward in the mining world. A congregation of this many people in one place is bound to have its effects on one’s ability to endure the four days no matter what your reason for being there was. Our team was among those 30,000 people and we could not have been happier to be a part of such an event, and enabling others to continue in the competition in the PDAC: survival of the fittest!
