You registered for Herscension 2026. Or you are seriously considering it. Either way, you are asking the same question that every first-time conference attendee asks: what is this actually going to be like, and how do I make the most of it?
This guide answers that question directly. It walks you through what to expect before you arrive, what the two days look like on the ground, how to network in a way that produces real outcomes, and how to make sure the momentum you build in Atlanta does not fade the moment you get home.
Herscension takes place November 14 and 15, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. One hundred entrepreneurs, executives, professionals, and leaders. Two days built entirely around women who are ready to lead, grow, and own their moment. Here is how to show up prepared.
Before You Arrive: Do This First
The work that produces the best conference outcomes starts before you ever step into the venue. Most first-timers skip this preparation entirely and then wonder why they left with a stack of business cards and no clear sense of what changed.
Get clear on your one primary goal
Herscension covers a lot of ground across two days, from funding strategies to AI fluency to hiring and contracting opportunities. Before you arrive, decide what you most want to walk away with. Is it a specific type of connection? Clarity on a funding question? A strategy for a career transition? A co-founder? Naming your primary goal before you arrive focuses your attention and makes every conversation more productive.
Research the speakers
The Herscension lineup includes women who have built real businesses, navigated real career transitions, and developed real expertise in the areas the conference covers. Spend time before the event reading about the speakers, including Adaeze Iloeje-Udeogalanya, founder of African Women in STEM and host of the Lunch with Leaders podcast. Understanding what each speaker brings helps you prioritise which sessions to attend and which conversations to seek out.
Learn more about Adaeze’s work and what she brings to the stage here.
Update your LinkedIn profile
You will meet people at Herscension who will search for you immediately after a conversation. Make sure what they find reflects your current work, your expertise, and what you are building or looking for. Your headline, your about section, and your recent activity all shape the first impression that follows you after a handshake.
Prepare a clear, honest answer to “what do you do and what are you working on right now.”
This sounds simple. Most people answer it poorly under pressure. Practice a version that is specific, interesting, and opens a conversation rather than closing it. Avoid job title alone. Lead with what you are building, solving, or moving toward.
Download the conference information and schedule in advance
Know which sessions align most directly with your primary goal and plan your two days with intention. At a focused event like Herscension, every hour matters.
Day One: How to Show Up
Day one of any professional conference carries a particular energy. Everyone is arriving, assessing the room, and figuring out how to engage. First-timers often spend too much of day one in observation mode, waiting to feel comfortable before they initiate.
Do not wait. Initiate from the first moment you walk in.
Arrive early
The conversations that happen before the formal programming starts are often the most relaxed and the most genuine. People are not yet in performance mode. They are just arriving, finding coffee, and looking for someone interesting to talk to. Be that person for someone else.
Introduce yourself to someone new before the first session begins
Do not overthink it. Walk up to someone standing alone or in a small group and say something direct: “Hi, I’m [name]. What brought you to Herscension?” That question almost always produces a real answer and a real conversation.
Take notes during sessions in a way that captures action, not just information
For every insight you hear, write down one specific thing you will do differently as a result. This converts passive learning into active application and gives you a concrete list to work from when you return home.
Attend the sessions that stretch you, not just the ones that confirm what you already know
The AI programming at Herscension, for example, may feel outside your immediate comfort zone if you are not yet deeply familiar with AI tools. Go anyway. The sessions designed to push you forward are the ones that produce the most lasting value.
How to Network at Herscension Without It Feeling Forced
Networking is the word that makes most people tense up at conferences. It conjures images of awkward small talk, aggressive card exchanging, and conversations that feel transactional from the first sentence.
Herscension is not built for that kind of networking. It is built for genuine connection between women who share common goals and challenges. Approach it that way and the tension disappears.
Lead with curiosity rather than a pitch
Ask people what they are working on, what they are trying to figure out, and what brought them to Atlanta. Listen genuinely to the answers. People remember the person who made them feel heard far longer than they remember the person who delivered an impressive elevator pitch.
Look for where you can give before you ask
If someone mentions a challenge you have already navigated, offer what you learned. If someone is looking for a connection you can make, make it. Generosity in a room full of ambitious women builds credibility and goodwill faster than any self-promotional tactic.
Follow up immediately
When you have a conversation that matters, send a LinkedIn message or an email the same day while the context is still fresh for both of you. Reference something specific from the conversation. This is the step most people skip and it is the step that determines whether a promising conversation becomes an actual relationship.
Identify two or three people you want to have deeper conversations with and pursue those intentionally
You will not build meaningful relationships with every person in the room across two days. Focus on quality over volume. Two genuine connections produce more long-term value than twenty superficial ones.
Do not spend the networking breaks on your phone
This is the most common and most costly mistake at professional conferences. Every moment you spend scrolling is a moment you could have spent in a conversation that changes something. Put the phone away and look up.
The Four Areas Herscension Covers: What to Pay Attention to
Understanding the four pillars of the Herscension experience helps you engage with the programming strategically rather than reactively.
Money and Resources
Pay close attention to the specific funding mechanisms discussed, not just the general advice. Ask speakers and panellists about their specific experiences accessing capital. Note the names of any funds, grants, or platforms mentioned. These specifics are what you act on after the conference.
Growth, Scale, and Acceleration
Bring a specific growth challenge into this programming rather than consuming it generally. When you have a concrete problem in mind, the strategies you hear become immediately applicable rather than interesting but abstract.
Hiring and Contracting
If you are open to executive roles or high-value contracts, be specific and direct about this in your conversations with the decision-makers present. Do not wait for the right moment to mention it. The right moment is any moment when it is relevant. Tell people clearly what kind of opportunity you are looking for and what you bring to it.
AI for Career and Business Growth
This programming is especially valuable for women who feel behind on AI fluency. As Adaeze has explored extensively through the African Women in STEM community, AI fluency has become a genuine differentiator in hiring and advancement. Come to these sessions with specific questions about how AI applies to your particular role or industry.
What to Do During Breaks and Downtime
Breaks at Herscension are not recovery time. They are unstructured networking time, which is often where the most valuable conversations happen because neither party is in session mode.
Use meal times and coffee breaks to have the follow-up conversations you did not get to finish during formal networking. Seek out speakers after their sessions and ask a specific question rather than a generic compliment. Find the women whose work aligns most closely with yours and go deeper than the introductory conversation you had earlier.
Also take care of yourself physically across both days. Drink water. Eat properly. Take a few minutes of genuine quiet if you need it. Two days of intensive professional engagement drains energy fast. Leaders who arrive at day two sessions genuinely present perform better in the room than those who arrived exhausted.
After the Conference: How to Keep the Momentum Going
The work that makes Herscension genuinely valuable happens after you leave Atlanta. Most conference attendees lose 80% of their momentum within a week of returning home if they do not build intentional follow-through structures.
Send personalised follow-up messages within 48 hours
Reference specific conversations. Propose clear next steps where relevant. Do not send generic “great to meet you” messages that carry no information and prompt no action.
Implement one strategy from the conference within the first week
Pick the most immediately actionable insight from the two days and put it into practice before the following Monday. This builds the habit of converting conference learning into real behaviour change rather than letting it sit in your notes indefinitely.
Schedule the connections that matter
If you had a conversation at Herscension that could become a mentorship relationship, a collaboration, or a business development opportunity, propose a follow-up call within two weeks while the connection is still warm.
Share what you learned
Write a LinkedIn post about your Herscension experience. Share a specific insight with your team or your community. Teaching what you learned consolidates it for yourself and demonstrates thought leadership to your network simultaneously.
Why This Conference, Why Now
Professional development is easy to defer. There is always a reason why this month is not quite the right time, why the budget is tight, why the calendar is full. The women who advance most consistently are the ones who treat strategic investment in themselves as non-negotiable rather than optional.
Herscension arrives at a moment when industries are shifting, AI is reshaping the rules of professional advancement, and the relationships that determine who gets hired, funded, and promoted are being built actively by the women who show up.
Register now: herscension.com/#tickets
