Not that TK09 is a BAD conference – there are many great things about it. But after the last couple years of attending I decided not to attend this last one for a few reasons.
At the end of the last conference I sent in an informal proposal for some changes through email to the organizers. One was to do have internet access and make it easy for people to blog the sessions (and do other things if they want). Another was to focus on Social Learning – almost have a conference within the conference focused on that. And there were a few other small ones. Unfortunately, “Your ideas will be considered” meant that we will ignore them. Sour grapes? No. I would love to go to any great conference if I have a great experience. But with out that I would be missing out.
Fast forward to today. The result? No (or incredibly limited) internet access. The attendees can’t blog the sessions. Less free press for them, the session and keynote speakers and less value shown all around. Without trying something new the conference seems to be the same-old-same-old. Good session speakers, to be sure. But there is something about the overall experience that solidifies attendance. You might not realize it, but there is a ‘user design’ aspect to conference.
Then, I think about other conferences getting it right. Ones which may not have as many people as TK09.
Actually, I hope someone posts that it is not as bad as I am hearing on Twitter (@dwilkinsnh not being able to demo, @moehlert not posting all because of lack of access and a focus on technology instead of capability) and corrects me.
This all leads to a couple thoughts: 1) My main point is not to be critical but instead to point out that conferences can – and SHOULD – be SO much better than they have in the past; 2) I would love to see the face of conferences change with more of a user design built in. Make it EASY for us to be there and attend. As @writetechnology stated: “We’ve all been spoiled by DevLearn” and other conferences which are getting it and continue to evolve to get it better every year. Yet, not being there I cannot make a full judgment and I fully admit that I may be wrong. I can only take in what I am hearing about in other ways.
Unfortunately, not going also means I miss out on the networking and seeing friends again – that I really miss. Hopefully, TK10 will learn from lessons of the past and will find me, and many other happy attendees there and blogging and tweeting and happy. Hopefully, we can all learn from this and make conferences better each year.
