I agree with most everything the author said. But I'll add one thing: the secret or no-so-secret main point to a conference is promotion. The speakers are there

I agree with most everything the author said. But I'll add one thing: the secret or no-so-secret main point to a conference is promotion. The speakers are there to promote themselves. The attendees. The folks running it. The sponsors. Everybody. Okay, nearly everybody. Because if the real goal was what people claimed it to be, ostensibly, like "education" or "sharing ideas", etc., then there are generally easier, cheaper, faster, more straightforward ways of accomplishing those goals without involving a conference. (Like maybe using this thing called the Internet.) What conferences are good for, mainly, is face time, a change of scenery, an opportunity to press palms, to party, to travel as a business expense, etc. I think it was telling that he admitted it was the first conference he'd ever been to. (And I'm not knocking his observations or recommendations: I think they are accurate and desirable!) Because for those who've seen a lot of them over the years, that whole self-promotion pattern is an old and recurring theme. Also, promotion is unpleasant but it's generally better than writing resumes, filling out applications, going through an interview process, HR, the submission and patronization, etc. Better if people just know who you are, come get you, throw work and money in your face. Promotion gets you that.