David Nadlinger:
Now if only all these tech conferences didn't happen to be held in the US and/or overseas flights from Europe were cheaper (same for the D conference :()…
Being present at conferences gives you some not evident advantages, like talking with people when there are no conferences, asking questions to expert people during the conferences, letting people know you and your ideas in little unscheduled lighting talks, in small scheduled 3-minute talks, or in normal sized talks, and so on. Good conferences give you new ideas, help you meet people interested in your ideas, help you meet your heroes or people that think of you as their hero, etc.
On the other hand the amount of CO2 released in very long air travels for such purposes is not always environmentally justifiable, the ecological footprint of some conferences is ridiculous. And if you take a look at certain conferences (like the Google one) they ask for excessive amount of money and silly requirements.
Bye, bearophile
