3 ms·

So, you seem dismissive of the reason for not attending your second conference, but in general people go to conference their employer will pay for them to atten

So, you seem dismissive of the reason for not attending your second conference, but in general people go to conference their employer will pay for them to attend, and if companies aren’t paying you will see a drop in attendance. There are a few conferences I love, but I’m unlikely to use up holiday and pay my own registration fee and travel to attend them. If it’s on my own dime I’ll probably watch the talks on YouTube. Edit: I should clarify that this about work related stuff. I’ll happily pay my own way for hobby related things, and have helped organise a few such things and volunteer to help at them. Even more strongly than work events those are affected by the economy. They depend on people have enough spare money and wanting to spend it on attending your event. If it’s a really good event they may scrimp and save money so they can go, but your event is a luxury they will cut if money is tight.

ghaff 3y ago
I think the only professional conference I've attended on my own time/dime (because of travel budget restrictions) I was comped for the conference pass and it was in a location/at a time that was perfect as part of a vacation anyway. Yeah, a lot of companies are very tight on non-essential business travel right now and most people aren't going if their company isn't covering it.
- WorldMaker 3y ago
  I've also paid for professional conferences (or volunteered to get them comped) in situations between jobs or other cases where the event's networking is more important and you don't want the conflict of interest in networking for possible future employment on the dime of your current employer.
peteforde 3y ago
I agree with the factual basis of your comment; it's true that lots of conference attendees have their tickets covered by employers. That was true for about 50% of our attendees, but it was a real mix - and I'm pretty sure that everyone was happy with their investment. However, there's another dimension to this, which is that there are different kinds of conferences and of course, different kinds of attendees. We were very up-front in our marketing that our event was catering to a certain personality profile; specifically, people who understood that the talks were the thing that happened between hallway conversations. This was pretty radical in 2008. The vast majority of conferences have a cookie-cutter vibe, and I agree with you that most solo devs would cut those out of the budget in leaner times. We wanted our event to act as a force multiplier, whether that meant elevating smart ideas or meeting the people you wanted to work with or for. It was carefully designed and high touch.

ghaff 3y ago

I think the only professional conference I've attended on my own time/dime (because of travel budget restrictions) I was comped for the conference pass and it was in a location/at a time that was perfect as part of a vacation anyway. Yeah, a lot of companies are very tight on non-essential business travel right now and most people aren't going if their company isn't covering it.

WorldMaker 3y ago
I've also paid for professional conferences (or volunteered to get them comped) in situations between jobs or other cases where the event's networking is more important and you don't want the conflict of interest in networking for possible future employment on the dime of your current employer.

peteforde 3y ago

I agree with the factual basis of your comment; it's true that lots of conference attendees have their tickets covered by employers. That was true for about 50% of our attendees, but it was a real mix - and I'm pretty sure that everyone was happy with their investment. However, there's another dimension to this, which is that there are different kinds of conferences and of course, different kinds of attendees. We were very up-front in our marketing that our event was catering to a certain personality profile; specifically, people who understood that the talks were the thing that happened between hallway conversations. This was pretty radical in 2008. The vast majority of conferences have a cookie-cutter vibe, and I agree with you that most solo devs would cut those out of the budget in leaner times. We wanted our event to act as a force multiplier, whether that meant elevating smart ideas or meeting the people you wanted to work with or for. It was carefully designed and high touch.