I don't go to too many conferences but I have been to a couple of hackathons and meet ups in NYC. Before I became a programmer I worked in a lot of nightclubs.

I don't go to too many conferences but I have been to a couple of hackathons and meet ups in NYC. Before I became a programmer I worked in a lot of nightclubs. And maybe its just a matter of scale from what I've seen before but I don't see drinking being that big in the programming community. I'm a non drinker and even when I worked in the clubs I never felt pressured to drink.There have been plenty of times when I'm the only one drinking Pepsi while everyone else has a rum and coke. If you have an issue with people getting sloppy drunk at conferences, I can see that being a problem. But if you're just talking about moderate drinking after the conferences or work to unwind then just go, don't drink, and have fun. I doubt very many people will be judging you.