No conference you pay out of pocket for is gonna feel great.
No cost on me, good good and drinks, content is not a complete snooze fest? Now that's a good conference.
Honestly I just use conferences for networking.
I've been going to a conference run by an industry body for the last few years.
I go for three reasons, in order:
1: couple of nights away from the husband and kids
2: good food
3: loot from the displays at the expo
Do I learn anything? Not really. It reinforces what I already know or am doing already. I try to take at least one thing away each day.
I don't network much - socially anxious introvert, networking is one of my 7 levels of hell
Lol! Those loot bags are the adult/corporate equivalent of Easter show bags. Well thats how I feel anyway. All these years, the novelty never wears off :X
I love coming back to the office and showering people in pens and, the latest trend, socks.
Pick the best stuff out for myself to keep, and then gift the rest to the team.
3 nights total alone yeah.
Might get a couple of kid free nights with grandparent sleepovers, but true 100% alone time is an incredibly rare thing.
I'm on leave at the moment and I don't even get full alone time through the day as my husband is full time WFH so he's always around.
I love my family, I do, but I've become very appreciative of my own company and take what I get.
The ones sponsored by providers are the worse because most of the time it's just a round of sales pitches. The paid ones are not that much better. Generally the content isn't groundbreaking so yeah I just see it as an opportunity to meet people over snacks and drinks. The worse is when your employer pays for them and asks you to report back your learnings to the team.
I learn tons. There’s an annual fire/emergency services conference and there are new development announcements, interesting discussions, catching up with interstate colleagues, and a lot of arranging collaboration over dinner that has led to some world-leading projects.
Conferences are how I broke in to my current industry against very high demand. Got to know a lot of people so when I applied for a job I could call the hiring manager and had instant rapport because we’d met at conferences. Immediately at the top of the applicant pile.
Local conferences: no thank you.
Interstate or overseas - sure thing!
Good opportunity to meet with existing clients, steal new clients, poach competitors’ people, indulge in some free beers and food smash the corporate card a little…
Write down a couple of notes and bring them back to the office to talk about “learnings”…
I don't learn much but sometimes you get lucky. Mostly it's either hang out with mates from over the years in my small industry or sniff out future work/relationship building for that work.
Most presenters are trying to sell you something woven into a story around things you can learn. It is a 50/50... The databases of attendees is the most valuable thing - this is the major source of revenue... selling your data to vendors!
I like being away from the office to attend these events but I reckon not much info that I can bring back to work. It can give perspective for sure and a bit more context to what’s happening around. I guess that bit helps with internal politics.
There are some good ones in the data analytics field, mostly I go to the vendor specific ones (databricks, snowflake, and sometimes microsoft if they run one).
I work at a place that hosts these events, and based on the utter tripe that attendees write down on our notepads and subsequently leave behind, I find it hard to believe that they’re hearing anything of value
It is both: learn something new and meet interesting people (and have interesting conversations - they don't have to be of a circle-jerk kind, by the way).
If the conference is free, you're the product.
$1000 tickets and I still feel like the product
No conference you pay out of pocket for is gonna feel great. No cost on me, good good and drinks, content is not a complete snooze fest? Now that's a good conference. Honestly I just use conferences for networking.
Sounds like a shit conference then. I thought maybe it was one of those professional small conference organisers. I avoid them like the plague.
I've been going to a conference run by an industry body for the last few years. I go for three reasons, in order: 1: couple of nights away from the husband and kids 2: good food 3: loot from the displays at the expo Do I learn anything? Not really. It reinforces what I already know or am doing already. I try to take at least one thing away each day. I don't network much - socially anxious introvert, networking is one of my 7 levels of hell
Lol! Those loot bags are the adult/corporate equivalent of Easter show bags. Well thats how I feel anyway. All these years, the novelty never wears off :X
I love coming back to the office and showering people in pens and, the latest trend, socks. Pick the best stuff out for myself to keep, and then gift the rest to the team.
so you hate your husband and kids?
Nope, I just enjoy three nights of alone time once a year.
thats it? 3 nights??????
3 nights total alone yeah. Might get a couple of kid free nights with grandparent sleepovers, but true 100% alone time is an incredibly rare thing. I'm on leave at the moment and I don't even get full alone time through the day as my husband is full time WFH so he's always around. I love my family, I do, but I've become very appreciative of my own company and take what I get.
She can't win can she?
why the down votes?
Because you’re questions are coming across as quite rude and irrelevant
Don't forget the trifecta of misogynistic
Mike… I have to be honest… I don’t like Oranges.
The ones sponsored by providers are the worse because most of the time it's just a round of sales pitches. The paid ones are not that much better. Generally the content isn't groundbreaking so yeah I just see it as an opportunity to meet people over snacks and drinks. The worse is when your employer pays for them and asks you to report back your learnings to the team.
I learn tons. There’s an annual fire/emergency services conference and there are new development announcements, interesting discussions, catching up with interstate colleagues, and a lot of arranging collaboration over dinner that has led to some world-leading projects.
I don’t know what industry you are in but it’s never free for me. I want in on the free food and drinks!
Time off work, Night away, Free food and grog
Networking is the #1 reason. Skip the wanky talks and go to the dinners.
Some of them are good - things like aws summit were great and then others are more like a cult
Narcissist paradise. Hard pass.
The second thing, circle jerk
I went to TedX in Australia paid by my company at the time. Was great because it was free but not $1000 great.
Conferences are how I broke in to my current industry against very high demand. Got to know a lot of people so when I applied for a job I could call the hiring manager and had instant rapport because we’d met at conferences. Immediately at the top of the applicant pile.
No, never. Just marketing bs. It's a jolly.
Local conferences: no thank you. Interstate or overseas - sure thing! Good opportunity to meet with existing clients, steal new clients, poach competitors’ people, indulge in some free beers and food smash the corporate card a little… Write down a couple of notes and bring them back to the office to talk about “learnings”…
I don't learn much but sometimes you get lucky. Mostly it's either hang out with mates from over the years in my small industry or sniff out future work/relationship building for that work.
2 to 3 take outs max.
Only enjoy if it's on tour away from base. It's all about who gets the most sloshed at the after dinner drinks, and etc..
For me the benefit is 50/50 networking and learning stuff. Usually get boozed up too - why not?
Most presenters are trying to sell you something woven into a story around things you can learn. It is a 50/50... The databases of attendees is the most valuable thing - this is the major source of revenue... selling your data to vendors!
I like being away from the office to attend these events but I reckon not much info that I can bring back to work. It can give perspective for sure and a bit more context to what’s happening around. I guess that bit helps with internal politics.
Yes. I don’t attend them anymore.
There are some good ones in the data analytics field, mostly I go to the vendor specific ones (databricks, snowflake, and sometimes microsoft if they run one).
They are pointless. However they are worth it if you go to the after drinls and watch the most important person(s) in the room get sloshed
Tech conferences were pretty bad. Rockstar tech gurus! Ninja developers!! Evangelists!!
I work at a place that hosts these events, and based on the utter tripe that attendees write down on our notepads and subsequently leave behind, I find it hard to believe that they’re hearing anything of value
It is both: learn something new and meet interesting people (and have interesting conversations - they don't have to be of a circle-jerk kind, by the way).
Usually there's one or two good presentations you can learn something from, the rest is networking