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Attending Conferences

September 23, 2008 by Rob Bazinet

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Miles Burke has a really great article on the SitePoint web site about attending conferences and the reasons to do so.

Miles points out two great reasons to attend a conference:

Let’s start with education. You’ll learn more from attending one conference than all the books and blog posts you can read in one month. This may sound like a tall order, but seriously, if you are actively listening to the presenter, it’s hard not to learn more than by simply being there.

And:

Then there’s the networking. Some may derisively call it schmoozing, however, this is a very important benefit of conferences that should not be underestimated. The contacts that you can make by grabbing a meal or a coffee during a break can be worth the cost of the conference alone. I’ve won at least $50,000 worth of business just by attending the last two Web Directions South conferences–and that’s without even really trying!

I agree wholeheartedly with these reasons.  I attended only a couple conferences this year, both somewhat regional and single-track, which were fantastic.  My attendance at both of these conferences has opened up a whole world of opportunities from making new friends to getting work from the folks I met and spent some time talking to.

I am a big fan of the smaller conferences which have 150-200 attendees and are single track.  It is often hard to decide between sessions in a multi-session format and somehow you lose.

The two conferences I have left for the year will bring the total for me to 4, which is more than I normally attend.  Since becoming an independent developer I find it more important now to attend conferences and network whenever possible.

Upcoming Conferences I am attending:

  • Novemeber 6-8, 2008 RubyConf 2008 in Orlando, FL
  • November 17-20, 2008 Voices That Matter: Professional Ruby in Boston, MA
  • Winter 2009 Acts as Conference in Orlando, FL
Technorati Tags: Conferences,RubyConf

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