This week, NHS folk (patients, policy makers, clinicians, managers) gather in Liverpool for the NHS Confederation Conference. I’ve been to quite a few in my time. Here are my tips for getting the most from this annual NHS jamboree.

1. Treat the event like a great art gallery or music festival. Don’t try to see and do everything. Be choosy, and give the things you choose your undivided attention.
2. Travel with an open mind. Be prepared to learn new things and to unlearn old ones. If you only seek out sessions or speakers that you think will confirm your views, you will waste your time and the money of whoever has paid for you to go.
3. Some people need no encouragement to network. But if you aren’t confident about bounding up to Simon Stevens or Jeremy Hunt with an outstretched paw, don’t worry. Practice by saying hullo to people who look like you feel – perhaps a bit lost or lonely. And remember what Dale Carnegie said: You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years trying to get other people interested in you.
4. When meeting new people, try to be neither boastful, facetious or enigmatic. If they ask you what you do, tell them. Self deprecation is good, but only if you mean it.
5. Dress for comfort AND style. These are not mutually exclusive. And ladies, remember that hobbling about in heels that may be causing you permanent disability is not a good look.
6. Don’t be a killjoy. If you get invited, go to the conference dinner. This is where you will get to mingle with very senior people once the pudding has been served. I’m expecting some serious selfie action from NHS management trainee chums.
7. Burn the midnight oil if you must. But never forget you are at work. Even if someone makes you an offer you feel you cannot refuse, say No. What goes on at conference does NOT stay at conference.
8. Take breaks. Go for a walk. Have a rest in your room. Do shopping or emails or visit Tate Liverpool or watch triathletes training in the dock. Drink coffee. But stay focussed on why you are there. The NHS is in desperate need of radical change. We are relying on people like you to work out the two or three things that will make the most difference, and then to deliver them. So you need to be in good shape.
9. Be kind. You may see folk who you know are having a hard time. Please don’t avoid them. Some of us older hands worry that, despite all the talk about compassion, the NHS has become less compassionate, with considerable focus on inspection, compliance and performance but insufficient attention to recovery, development and improvement. And we have jettisoned most of the architecture that helped senior people to step aside with dignity when circumstances required this. The best you can do is say hullo to people working in very tough places, and listen if they seem angry or frightened. You never know, one day, this could be you.
10. Bring back stories. I remember one year Roy Lilley started his session with the sound of an unanswered phone ringing while he did a voiceover about being a worried relative. He went on to demonstrate an inadequate vacuum cleaner, dropped it off the front of the stage, introduced us to a new bagless vacuum cleaner, and brought on then little-known James Dyson to chat about quality. He ended with a duet with his brother on keyboards. It was fabulous. This year I highly recommend Alison Cameron at 9.30 on Friday morning. I will be watching online as she reminds confetence why we all do what we do.

You can prepare by following some great NHS people on Twitter. I’ve already mentioned @allyc375. Here’s a few more: @WhoseShoes, @NHSConfed_RobW, @NHSE_Danny, @ChrisCEOHopson, @Saffron_Policy, @HPIAndyCowper, @Crouchendtiger7, @HSJEditor, @SamanthaJNHS, @antonytiernan, @anna_babic, @DrBruceKeogh, @JaneMCummings, @helenbevan, @jackielynton, @DrUmeshPrabhu, @JamesTitcombe, @NHS_Dean, @KarenLynas2012, @yvonnecoghill1, @2020Health, @Damian_Roland, @BCHBoss, @nickyruneckles, @paulfarmermind, @KMiddletonCSP. Of course there are many more wonderful NHS folk on Twitter, but the ones on this list are definitely at the conference this year. Please seek them out and say hi, and send best wishes from me. And expect a warm welcome back.

I recommend that you follow the conference chair @tweeter_anita. I hope she will mention her stunning new book Sophia, the biography of a forgotten Indian Princess who became a suffragette. It has reminded me that keeping quiet and toeing the line never got anything important done. And causes me to wonder how it can be that in 2015, with NHS staff being 70% women and 20% BME, Anita was left to interview 6 white men who are, collectively, in charge of NHS commissioning, public health, regulation and training. I’m not criticising the incumbents, just the system that perpetuates this shocking lack of diversity at the top. All the more reason to dig deep and support the statue Mary Seacole, which will commemorate not only Mary, but all women and BME people who have dedicated their lives to caring for the sick and wounded.

Please support the Mary Seacole statue appeal http://wp.me/P4ZnZz-3Y

So listen hard, make some noise, have fun and be kind. I hope you have a wonderful conference.

With thanks to @MarkAxcell for the lovely poster.