So I haven't been to a ton of design conferences in my life. Very few actually. But as I look at the amount of money I could be spending this year on tickets, travel, lodging, and food I have to ask the question, is it worth it? I'd love to hear thoughts on the value of design conferences –- why you value them, cool stories, etc.

I find that I pretty much get one thing out of design conferences: relationships. And building relationships with people that are good at what I want to be good at has truly benefited me. Having enough acquaintance to message them directly & ask a question or get their feedback on a design.

The talks are fine, sometimes good, rarely great but that's to be expected. I can never sit for a whole day and just listen to stuff, either. I have a certain capacity for information and once I reach it, my brain shuts down and says "no more!"

So, then the real question for me is - who will I see? Who will I possibly have the opportunity to meet or hang out with? There are a lot of very talented folks in the web design world.

First off, I don't consider myself a designer. But, I have gone to some design conferences.

Chandler is correct, relationships are everything. I just wouldn't expect them to get built at conferences. I see a conference as more like a doorway. What you do afterwards is what matters.

In my opinion, meeting someone NOT at a conference is a much better way to build true relationships. This probably means doing more work, being helpful in some way, going out of your way to connect on their time.

When everyone is trying to meeting everyone at conferences, I've found the best way to build relationships is not at them. And, in person matters more than anything.

Then again, if it's just for the fun then I'm all in.

Hi guys, thanks for the add! :)

I've attended a few web conferences worldwide, mainly in the UK. For me, it's definitely about networking. The friends I've met, and work connections I've made are worth 1000% more than the price of the conference itself.

I'm not saying the content of conferences should be underrated, but I think events more like ValioCon that have a higher focus on the social side of what we do can be highly commended for encouraging people to meet, talk, come up with crazy ideas and actually make some of them happen.

I agree the previous comments. I'd rather attend casual localized meetups and just stream conferences online. The relationships you forge while at the conferences are where the true value is. You also save a boat load of money by not attending these mega conferences.

I think they are worth it. This year I've made some incredible friends at the conferences I've been to, and without those conferences I probably would never have gotten the chance to form those relationships.

I even got the chance to help out with a conference this past fall which was one of the most incredible experiences I've had.

When I'm at a smaller sized (like Grok or Beta) conference I feel like I'm with "my peeps". I cherish those moments.

Grok. Brooklyn Beta. Circles.

As a speaker at conferences I hope the talks matter. I also love meeting people.

As an attendee of conferences the talks sometimes matter. I also love meeting people.

Common denominator is people.

Geez. My post stinks. I was in a hurry.

The most important thing to me is to connect with people who I know will spur me on to think and do the things that I want to look back on in 50 years and be glad I did. I learn techniques at CoWork, any good conference event should be less about partying and more about really learning, IMO.

While I am a speaker and do invest a lot of effort into crafting talks that are engaging and insightful, for me conferences are rarely about the talks. It's about connecting with your peers; like Chandler said, it's about relationships.

If I had to choose which conferences to go to, I would pick the ones that the peers I want to either meet or catch up with are going to be at.

So does everything still think speakers are necessary? Why not do talkless conferences?

I don't think speaking on "how to" topics is really relavent anymore. I think hearing about big ideas and things that help us change the way we work and live and think.

I think speakers who can do that aren't industry specific, though they may be able to speak pertinently to industry issues.

1) I don't like any specific web design or web dev conferences. The talks are usually about something you can easily find in Smashing Magazine or other blogs. The better conferences are those that simply have a nod to tech and internet, without too many "how to" talks - 99u and Brooklyn Beta do this well.

2) I find conferences good times to switch off and get outside of an intense work schedule, and allows time to drift out of immediate projects and be inspired to think of new things to do.

3) Travel - since I'm self employed and don't share an office, I use conferences as an excuse to get out of London into NYC or SF. I find it so important to mingle with communities outside of your own.

4) Meeting new people at them is super easy.