At 11:18 AM 7/19/00 +0000, Greg Cope wrote:
>Dear All
>
>As some of you are at a conferance at the mo and I am still at work ;-(
>I thought I'd ask about apacheCon Europe - although not strictly
>mod_perl there is a relevance - even if tenous.
>
>I've never been to an IT conferance like these - and they appear quite
>popular. Especially the BOF's.
I can see why you are having trouble understanding why the expense is worth
it if you've never gone.
>I am considering going to the ApacheCon Europe to see what's said and
>put a few faces to names and meet a few people.
>
>However, I've just seen the prices - I am not saying that everyone
>should do this for free or not be paid thier travel / hotels, but it
>seems a little expensive.
>
>Three days off work + threeday pass + other expenses + travel = 5% of my
>income (I am contractor - hence I pay for it all).
795 pounds for early bird special? Translates to about US$1400. That seems
pretty reasonable for a 3-day conference. I've seen ones that cost more.
>Am I being a scruge or is this a fair reflection of the cost of going to
>an event ? Will there be out-of-Conference events that
This is the fair cost and you are being a scruge. There are cheaper
conferences around but they are usually grass roots, holed up in a
university etc...
>non-conference-goeres can attend ?
>
>Thoughts from anyone ?
Yeah, you're being pretty cheap. :)
Well, I'm sort of kidding here. But the reality is that a conference offers
a lot -- not just knowledge (then just attend a tutorial locally at Sun or
someplace) but networking. The coordination of a conference is a huge task.
Anyway, most conferences do have a free vendor expo, but I don't think that
it's nearly as good as going to a whole conference. If you really want to
attend a conference for "free", why don't you contribute back to the
community that has been helping you make a living and give a talk?
Let's put it this way, conferences are pure and simple a business expense
BUT they are also fun. Don't go if it's not fun.
Then look at it like this... what do you pay to go on vacation? Surely it's
the same basic formula minus the conference fee which by itself is less
expensive than getting training the equivalent days at SUN. If you didn't
go on vacation because it cost you 5% of your salary... OK then... that's
your choice... then I guess I would find it hard to convince you that it's
also worth it to go to a conference.
Later,
Gunther
__________________________________________________
Gunther Birznieks ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
eXtropia - The Web Technology Company
http://www.extropia.com/
