For me, conferences are about: - The hallway track - Having some less-distracted time around some general topic of interest - Being made aware of things I mi

For me, conferences are about: - The hallway track - Having some less-distracted time around some general topic of interest - Being made aware of things I might not have otherwise been made aware of But, by and large, you're not IMO going to "learn about $X" by going to a breakout. It might put $X on your radar as something worth spending a day looking at. By and large, I like (selectively) going to conferences but if someone has the mindset that they're a day of classroom-type sessions, they're probably less valuable. That's not a criticism. People just have different perspectives.