Comments on: Conferences and value http://www.acidlabs.org/2007/12/27/conferences-and-value/ strategies, tools and processes to empower knowledge workers Fri, 21 Nov 2008 03:02:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: John Allsopp http://www.acidlabs.org/2007/12/27/conferences-and-value/#comment-3462 John Allsopp Fri, 28 Dec 2007 23:32:36 +0000 http://www.acidlabs.org/2007/12/27/conferences-and-value/#comment-3462 Stephen, thanks for the very nice words about Web Directions. All the conferences you name in a positive light have one thing in common - they are put on by passionate, knowledgeable people, whose primary motivation is to help develop their industry. In time if you are lucky it can become more than a labour of love! The other conferences are typically run by companies that are great at the logistics of conferences - and tend to have excellent marketing relationships, skills and resources. But their motivations are, as you observe, typically quite different - for them it's a business first. And that's largely how the world works :-) An important thing to note is for the conferences you mention to last, they need to become sustainable - you simply can't keep it up indefinitely if it is paying pot washer rates, as it will typically do for some time (if you are *lucky*) when you start out. We've seen a lot of of great conferences wither on the vine for precisely that reason. Anyway, thanks again for the kind words - the positive feedback (and much much more support) we get from so many attendees is a big part of why we keep doing it! john Stephen,

thanks for the very nice words about Web Directions. All the conferences you name in a positive light have one thing in common - they are put on by passionate, knowledgeable people, whose primary motivation is to help develop their industry. In time if you are lucky it can become more than a labour of love!

The other conferences are typically run by companies that are great at the logistics of conferences - and tend to have excellent marketing relationships, skills and resources. But their motivations are, as you observe, typically quite different - for them it’s a business first. And that’s largely how the world works :-)

An important thing to note is for the conferences you mention to last, they need to become sustainable - you simply can’t keep it up indefinitely if it is paying pot washer rates, as it will typically do for some time (if you are *lucky*) when you start out. We’ve seen a lot of of great conferences wither on the vine for precisely that reason.

Anyway, thanks again for the kind words - the positive feedback (and much much more support) we get from so many attendees is a big part of why we keep doing it! john

]]> By: Web Worker Daily » Archive Open Thread: What Was Worth It in 2007? « http://www.acidlabs.org/2007/12/27/conferences-and-value/#comment-3447 Web Worker Daily » Archive Open Thread: What Was Worth It in 2007? « Thu, 27 Dec 2007 22:01:05 +0000 http://www.acidlabs.org/2007/12/27/conferences-and-value/#comment-3447 [...] often require big investments of time and money. Information Architect Stephen Collins muses that they aren’t always worth it: You know, conferences, for all their imagined value sometimes aren’t all they’re cracked up to [...] […] often require big investments of time and money. Information Architect Stephen Collins muses that they aren’t always worth it: You know, conferences, for all their imagined value sometimes aren’t all they’re cracked up to […]

]]> By: Matthew Hodgson http://www.acidlabs.org/2007/12/27/conferences-and-value/#comment-3446 Matthew Hodgson Thu, 27 Dec 2007 20:35:18 +0000 http://www.acidlabs.org/2007/12/27/conferences-and-value/#comment-3446 Ahhh, egos and cash cows. Let's have conferences of great substance and less of opinion and the quickly-waving-look-at-me-hands. @Gary I suspect that if we asked a few of these presenters about their actual experience and delivery they wouldn't have a penny to show for it. M Ahhh, egos and cash cows. Let’s have conferences of great substance and less of opinion and the quickly-waving-look-at-me-hands.

@Gary I suspect that if we asked a few of these presenters about their actual experience and delivery they wouldn’t have a penny to show for it. M

]]> By: Gary Barber http://www.acidlabs.org/2007/12/27/conferences-and-value/#comment-3437 Gary Barber Thu, 27 Dec 2007 06:38:34 +0000 http://www.acidlabs.org/2007/12/27/conferences-and-value/#comment-3437 NOt had he chance to get to overseas conferences mainly due to my location. Getting to an East Coast Conference in itself can be very costly in lost business time and accommodation and travel. Hence I pick and choose carefully. I know exactly what you are talking about. Getting the speaker mix and the integrating the social and the speakers such that the conference just doesn't end after the sun goes down is a critical factor. The amount of discussion on presented topics that occur in the corridor and well in to the evening is the sign of a good conference. Of all the conferences I have attended over the years (in Australia) only Web Directions and OZIA have ever managed to pull this off. From your check list they deliver on all counts. Other conferences (in Australia) tout themselves as the "rock concert" for web geeks. But frankly they are just lame insular in comparison to these two conferences. To often I see conferences if a list of corporate CEO's CIO's etc for speakers being touted as experts in the web industry. I avoid these fake cash cow conferences like the plague. Often have I seen these presenters fall apart if one technical or real expert asks a question. A good conference delivers real practicing speakers who are working just like you and me in the industry. NOt had he chance to get to overseas conferences mainly due to my location.

Getting to an East Coast Conference in itself can be very costly in lost business time and accommodation and travel. Hence I pick and choose carefully.

I know exactly what you are talking about. Getting the speaker mix and the integrating the social and the speakers such that the conference just doesn’t end after the sun goes down is a critical factor. The amount of discussion on presented topics that occur in the corridor and well in to the evening is the sign of a good conference.

Of all the conferences I have attended over the years (in Australia) only Web Directions and OZIA have ever managed to pull this off. From your check list they deliver on all counts.

Other conferences (in Australia) tout themselves as the “rock concert” for web geeks. But frankly they are just lame insular in comparison to these two conferences.

To often I see conferences if a list of corporate CEO’s CIO’s etc for speakers being touted as experts in the web industry. I avoid these fake cash cow conferences like the plague. Often have I seen these presenters fall apart if one technical or real expert asks a question.

A good conference delivers real practicing speakers who are working just like you and me in the industry.

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