“I’ve realized that I can’t stand conferences. To me, conferences are akin to watching television without Tivo, or going to AAA to get a triptik instead of mapping a journey on Google. Conferences are an old workhorse model–a mix of passive consumption and fluorescent lighting–that is at odds with the seeds of inspiration they are supposed to inspire.”
Fixing Conferences: Six Lessons From the Designers Accord Summit, by Valerie Casey
I think I agree. As it stands now, I go to conferences mainly for the hallway conversations and post-session networking. Eventually we’re all just going to start flying to Vegas to stand around in a convention center and meet people for dinner.
Nov 5th, 2009 / 10:47 am
I am a professional speaker. After you have been to your first 500 or so conferences you get the message. The content is generally banal. All the issues are the same.
I have always said that the biggest value from conferences comes from the late nights. For corporates, it gets the team together from numerous offices, and they bond and get aligned. It’s about relationships more than content on the value scale. For satellite workers (like web people), or conventions, it’s inspirational to feel part of a community at a conference. But that value is being diminished with social networking developing to such a degree.
The dinners is where it’s at!
Nov 6th, 2009 / 2:48 am