Why attend professional industry conferences?

I often travel to industry conferences - thank God, in my professional field (I'm a programmer) is now spent huge number of different events. And I have participated in a variety of guises - as a regular member and as a volunteer and as a speaker and as a co-organizer. And very often I have heard the opinion that it is a waste of time, and often - and money. I fundamentally disagree with that statement, and I want to share with you my thoughts on what use to me, as a specialist, brings regular attendance at various events.

Many people say: "Why should I pay X dollars for participating in the conference, if I needed any knowledge I can gather from the Internet?" Opinion correct enough, if not one nuance - the atthe topic that interests you, or issue that you have encountered in the work, the less chance that you will easily find enough information about it on the Internet. In turn, at a conference, on the one hand, a large concentration of professionals in your area who can tell something sensible, but on the other hand, may be present recognized guru of the professional field, who came to the conference with presentation or workshop, and which, as a rule, open for communication, and you can get an answer to your question from a specialist high qualifications.

This item has some similarities with the previous one, but the difference here is that knowledge, the preparation of which gives rise to the inspiration you are in the area, "I do not know what I do not know." Often, visiting conferences, I visit reports, the theme of which have little to do with my work. If you're lucky, and the stage will be a strong speaker, you can learn a lot of things that you might not have any idea. But then, when you embed this new knowledge in their world, they can radically change the methods and principles of your work for the better. I have often seen the reports about technology conferences, which at that time were very far from what I was doing, and a lot of times and then I have successfully used these technologies in their work.

By and large, this item could be put first. The Networking, the process of getting new acquaintances during a backstage communication - it is, in my opinion, the most important element of any industry event. Despite the fact that in today's online distance between people reduced to a few mouse clicks, nothing is more powerful and more important than live communication so far has not come up. Universally recognized world-class professionals, leaders of local communities, specialists with a unique experience and expertise - with these people, you can enjoy a coffee together lunch and ask your concerns, and thus will not appear intrusive or infringe any social norms, because here everything is ready for that and come here behind it! Thanks to acquaintances, initiated at conferences, I got a job, now do and met with some fantastic people, communication with which brings not only a lot of food for thought, and a lot of fun.

A weighty argument in the dispute "whether or not to attend the conference" may be their price. Indeed, not all and not always willing to give three-digit dollar amount for the opportunity to get to know someone and something to listen to. On this subject I have three arguments:

• Firstly, I believe that the fee for the conference - it is an investment in yourself, in your knowledge and your career. I think this is almost as important as reading books on professional topics. And investments have to pay off a property with a good ROI.
• Second, if you have something to tell the conference theme (and if you are for a while already running industry and have practical experience - that is likely to have one), you can try to participate as Rapporteur. On the one hand, it will help you to improve your public speaking skills and a little bit poreklamirovat yourself as an expert. On the other hand, the speakers tend to attend the conference for free :)
• And thirdly, if you have no money for a ticket or experience, which is not ashamed to share, you can try to become a volunteer. Many of the conference invite people to help them with a fine organizational work (such as registration participants, checking tickets, assisting lecturers, etc..), but because it allowed them to conference is free. This work, as a rule, does not take a lot of time, and in most cases you can get to all the reports, which would get, and talk to everyone you want to talk.

See you at the conference!

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