[Web4lib] Attending/Presenting at conferences in difficult times

[John Fereira]

Jill O'Neill wrote:
> Speaking as an event organizer, I am sure that most conferences are seeing
> shifts in a variety of ways. Certainly speakers require more subsidization
> of travel. Organizations don't send as many people to a single conference as
> they might have done five years ago. Costs are up in the hospitality
> industry in terms of catering and that too may force associations to
> re-evaluate traditional practices in supplying attendees. There are the
> issues associated with technology (such as supplying wi-fi to registrants). 
>   
Thanks for your response.  As I wrote, I have been involved in the 
conference planning for an annual (used to be twice a year) conference 
so I have seen the issues involved for conference attendance from both 
sides.  One thing I've noticed for the conference I'm working on now is 
that some conference services vendors (i.e. AV support, and, yes, event 
organizers) seem to be especially aggressive about letting us know of 
their services.  I think there has been no less than three companies 
send us email offering to sell us  #totebags.
> That said, one of the most frequently cited rationales for attending a
> conference in a face-to-face setting is associated with the opportunity to
> meet the real person. Doing it online offsets limited travel, but there's
> nothing like shaking a hard in real time and in real space to cement a
> connection.
>   
I agree.  100%.  I wouldn't expect, or predict that face-to-face 
conferences will go away, but wouldn't be surprised to see more virtual 
conferences and more regional conferences.  For example,  I couldn't 
really justify going to Code4Lib in Asheville,  but the Code4Lib North 
regional conference that has recently been discussed is only a 3 or so 
hour drive away so I'm considering going even if I have to pay the 
registration fee and accommodations myself. 

-- 
John Fereira
Cornell University
Twitter: @john_fereira
Google Wave: fereira at googlewave.com