11–20 of 47 posts
Huh. Is it just me? I couldn't make it through more than a screen of this post because of the author's ego that seemed to be spilling out the sides of their mouth. I didn't "read to the end" like admonished, so not sure if it was meant to be humorous.
Conferences don't exist to convey information. You can learn stuff from conferences, but I don't think I've ever been to one where people were talking about things that weren't already publicly available on the internet. (An exception might be conferences like Apple's WWDC, since that's a place for the company to announce proprietary info) When people attend conferences, they're doing it to be seen . That's true whet…
I don't entirely agree with this. Many speakers talk about their experience with some technology or problem. If it's not presented as a sales pitch - which sometimes might happen -, it is definitely valuable to hear about real-world use cases. And then you even get to ask them questions at the end. It is an opportunity to share info and practices that you can hardly get in the same way from a non-interactive blog article or a forum thread.
> When people attend conferences, they're doing it to be seen
This might be true, and as you say, it's all business. I don't think this is necessarily bad (I'm not saying that you think so). Conferences are useful to meet people in person and expand your network, which is also very valuable. Maybe some do this as a deliberate calculation, some others are genuinely interested in socializing. That's all very fine. And ultimately if speaking at a conference has chances to improve my resume, why would I not go for it? It's all business, right?
> If you're at a talk that's truly unbearable, just tune out or walk out if it's that bad.
This is good advice. Overall I would say conferences are a decent tool for staying in touch with the community. Not all of them are bad, and not all speakers have inflated egos.
Conferences don't exist to convey information. You can learn stuff from conferences, but I don't think I've ever been to one where people were talking about things that weren't already publicly available on the internet. (An exception might be conferences like Apple's WWDC, since that's a place for the company to announce proprietary info) When people attend conferences, they're doing it to be seen . That's true whet…
Whether or not information is technically available, there are any number of reasons why conference presentations are useful. They provide synthesis of information from multiple sources. They provide use cases and experiences. They dive into things that are poorly documented. They present information in a different mode. They highlight things you might have missed. They share with you the presenter's thinking about thorny issues.
After all, what publicly available resources on the Internet do you actually hunt down when you're researching something new? Chances are, posted conference decks and videos are a big part of them.
Conferences don't exist to convey information. You can learn stuff from conferences, but I don't think I've ever been to one where people were talking about things that weren't already publicly available on the internet. (An exception might be conferences like Apple's WWDC, since that's a place for the company to announce proprietary info) When people attend conferences, they're doing it to be seen . That's true whet…
You are not wrong in your reason for why a certain type of person attends a conference: to satisfy ego or some other vanity, you are wrong in assuming all (or even a majority of) people attend conferences for this reason. Conferences in my view exist for a variety of reasons outside of their most commonly associated purpose of existing to provide educational material that others have noted can be easily found other p…
Anyone who approaches conferences as if they were a playlist of YouTube videos is probably going to be disappointed.
Conferences don't exist to convey information. You can learn stuff from conferences, but I don't think I've ever been to one where people were talking about things that weren't already publicly available on the internet. (An exception might be conferences like Apple's WWDC, since that's a place for the company to announce proprietary info) When people attend conferences, they're doing it to be seen . That's true whet…
The real reason is to meet and get to know people in person that you may want work with or collaborate with. Maybe they're a speaker, or not. Also, in the sciences at least, some conferences are for the presentation and in-person discussion of new breakthroughs. The in-person part is frequently invaluable.
Conferences don't exist to convey information. You can learn stuff from conferences, but I don't think I've ever been to one where people were talking about things that weren't already publicly available on the internet. (An exception might be conferences like Apple's WWDC, since that's a place for the company to announce proprietary info) When people attend conferences, they're doing it to be seen . That's true whet…
I go to conferences for two reasons: to meet people and learn stuff. And really, as I am generally poor at meeting people, the learning part is the bulk of it. So, really, I completely disagree with the foundation of your statement. Whether or not information is technically available, there are any number of reasons why conference presentations are useful. They provide synthesis of information from multiple sources.…
Conferences don't exist to convey information. You can learn stuff from conferences, but I don't think I've ever been to one where people were talking about things that weren't already publicly available on the internet. (An exception might be conferences like Apple's WWDC, since that's a place for the company to announce proprietary info) When people attend conferences, they're doing it to be seen . That's true whet…
A conference is a horrible place to be seen. Maybe a great place to see your colleagues/friends in industry, networking is definitely important.
Huh. Is it just me? I couldn't make it through more than a screen of this post because of the author's ego that seemed to be spilling out the sides of their mouth. I didn't "read to the end" like admonished, so not sure if it was meant to be humorous.
I thought the author was sincere after the first read. I read it after reading your comment and respectfully disagree about the author's ego. I have never been a conference speaker so perhaps I am not the best judge.
Having self-respect and deciding not to keep uselessly abasing yourself to a clique that's never going to anoint you is perfectly reasonable. As the previous poster said the article author seems over-blessed with ego thinking he knows enough to hand out blanket advice putting the fault on others.
Conferences don't exist to convey information. You can learn stuff from conferences, but I don't think I've ever been to one where people were talking about things that weren't already publicly available on the internet. (An exception might be conferences like Apple's WWDC, since that's a place for the company to announce proprietary info) When people attend conferences, they're doing it to be seen . That's true whet…
I've noticed that most speakers don't actually convey any information, instead just exploring some very basic idea in way too much depth. Just lots of fluff really.
Also agree with others though, that conferences have their uses for meeting people which does result in knowledge exchange.