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I work for too small a company to attend a conference. The cost of travel, meals, hotel.
Just too much.
Would be nice...
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I actually prefer the in-person ones for the possibility of meeting interesting people in the breaks / end of the day.
But online are way more comfortable.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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... food!!! 
Cheers,
Vikram.
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Fair food is terrible and overpriced - if a buffet is free or included in the attendance, you must go there with the attitude of a disgraaced Viking on his last chance for valhalla and an unlimited supply of RedBull.
GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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If you're given a ticket, I assume it comes with lunch included - been that way for every conference I attended.
Cheers,
Vikram.
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Live in-person, just not in California
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Why? Do conferences cause cancer in california?
Oh sanctissimi Wilhelmus, Theodorus, et Fredericus!
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It's been a good mix for me. I can't travel much and so the online conferences make it so that I can see some of the speakers I've wanted to see on the subjects that wanted and I even get to ask a question or two.
I DO miss things like SQLSaturdays... we had some really good ones within a 5 hour drive before PASS crashed and the pandemic curtailed a lot of in-person events. My best friend is also a DBA and so it's great time to swap ideas and solve "the problems of the world" during the drive. Such road trips are a lot of fun in that aspect and then to have a destination like an SQLSaturday with a whole bunch of people with different ideas (before, during, and after presentations and the event itself).
So, just like the 2nd law of "Peter's Laws" states, "When given a choic - take both". 
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I would like to attend an interesting conference at least once in person. Unfortunately, as far as I know, the only conference in my country is PyCon and is on the other side of the country (and Python is not my main, nor event second, third, or fifth language of work).
And since the transportation and lodging problems (not only during this pandemic) are a problem I hope I will at least get a chance to attend a simple talk by one of the known-by-many/important people from conferences.
And since English is not my native language (you can probably tell by writing) the recordings are better for me, because I can return a hear again any word/sentence I missed/did not understand (language/spelling).
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That allows me to set the speed to 2x, and skip the less interesting / marketing parts.
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Online conferences means loads of distractions. Be it colleagues that need answers to the internet sitting right there.
Attending an actual conference means that you're out of the office, therefore people think twice before disturbing you.
Plus for me many of the benefits of a conference come from the unofficial events. At the discussions at lunch or before / after talks. That's where the true gold comes from.
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harvyk0 wrote:
Plus for me many of the benefits of a conference come from the unofficial events. At the discussions at lunch or before / after talks. That's where the true gold comes from.
+1
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Attending a conference might have been useful 15 or more years ago, but now it's doubtful. Since <sarcasm>nobody does anything but web programming these days</sarcasm> what would be the point?
Software Zen: delete this;
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Although in-person conferences can never be replaced by fully online conferences, there's considerations to the costs for the conference itself, flights and hotel. Usually one of those 3 are the driver why I don't attend. When you do the math on what you're paying and the ROI you start to question why even bothering.
If the conference is local/driving distance, I'll go for it. When you have to fly and incorporate expenses for hotel, those BS "resort fees" and other tourist taxes they stick you with the cost goes way up.
Overall it would be easier and cheaper for conferences to have a online/in-person option. They can use smaller venues and potentially lower overall costs. This way people can participate from their home while not having to juggle work, home, etc. for travel.
"Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music."
-- Marcus Brigstocke, British Comedian
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Using my phone, which is the preferred device so at a minimum I can pace.
Dishes
Cooking
Clean litterbox
Surf the web
Keep working on other stuff
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I would think that it is cheaper for companies to attend tech conferences via online than in person, now - saving a lot of money in travel and lodging.
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But I loved how everything was online for the past year.
Less hassle, no travel time, no traffic jams, no stressing over being too late, etc.
However, attending a live event once in a while can be nice to get out of the house/office.
So maybe like 3/4 online, 1/4 live.
If I really had to pick one or the other I'd prefer online.
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I am a misantropic isolationist trainwreck of a human being on my best day, those events are in the few kinds that I could enjoy attending while socializing with people that have a higher chance of not being immediately despised by me.
Well, I may have exaggerated a bit but really, it's one of the best ways to socialize for introverts like me. And being caught in things opens the mind more than having the possibility of choosing / shooing off as quickly and comfortably as with an online convention. Online it's more difficult to have chance encounters, overhearing some interesting tidbit on the way to the toilet and ending listening to a panle you would never even looked at twice...
GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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Yes, this! A million times this!
IRL you can sample the food, maybe get a drink, eavesdrop on more sociable people and imagine what you would say if you where part of that conversation.
Also, just loafing around in the conference area and seeing stuff just because it's happening, I kinda miss it tbh.
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In the last months, many job interviews have been held online via teams/zoom/etc.
When I am in the role of a candidate, an online interview is welcome.
In the role of the recruiter, it is not.
Why? Because the candidate has, in most cases, set the camera to an almost-face-only view and I can see only the face, most of the time with some live-rendered background to avoid someone seeing the background where s/he lives. While the background is ok, the face-only view is not enough for me in the recruiter role.
I am a quite skilled poker player and from there I know how to "read" people. For this very same reason I do not like online poker. Because people tell you a story with their body, their movements, their HANDS. When I see only the face, I miss lots of (sometimes very important) information.
Their hands tell me, when a question makes them nervous, shoulder and positioning of the body (elbows on table or not, things like that) tell me things about their inner state.
I miss all those informations.
And a well-placed cheat sheet in an always-on-top-window on their screen also allows them to answer questions in a way they could not in a live interview.
For a normal conference, a jour-fixe or almost any scrum-meeting, online is fine.
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Same, as a candidate. Online I cannot see the work environment, only a live background or a conference room. Entering a workplace, seeing the common areas, the body language of the employees, the notices hanging from doors / walls... that I can do only in person.
I saw some dumpsters of companies, with dirty common areas and broken furniture everywhere, having spotless meeting rooms with exquisite decor... while the rest of the company looked like a vietcong tunnel network.
GCS d--(d-) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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First of all, I've always considered when working that they mainly hired me from the neck up. Body language? I remember when that first "came out" as a big thing - and probably causes as much misinformation as anything useful it may supply. At the very least, the reader of the body language already has mental predispositions as to what they're looking for and how they'll manifest, and most important of all . . . . it's really open to interpretation.
Mike Barthold wrote: And a well-placed cheat sheet in an always-on-top-window on their screen also allows them to answer questions in a way they could not in a live interview.
If they're clever enough to anticipate you questions and have a cheat-sheet to answer them, I'd say you found a keeper.
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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When I was hired for my present position, I had one phone interview with the company recruiter, then one with my current boss and her boss - I never actually met anyone in the company or saw the offices until my first day as an employee. So far it's worked out well - although it remains to be seen what the result will be when I don't participate in the Return to the Office program that starts next month.
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