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Ask Slashdot: Good Technology Conferences To Attend?

Posted by Unknown on from the all-of-them dept.

SSG Booraem (2553474) writes I've recently been hired to a IT supervisor position at a local college. My boss wants me to find some technology conferences that I'd like to attend and submit them to her. Since I've worked in IT for 18 years but usually done scut work, I don't have any ideas. I'd appreciate suggestions with personal experiences.

25 of 131 comments (clear)

  1. Depends on your Job Duties by robstout · · Score: 2

    I'm a network (Cisco) guy, so Cisco Live! is my go-to conference. YMMV. DEFCON sounds like the most fun to attend, as long as you keep your gear powered off.

  2. Any good technology conferences to attend? by tooslickvan · · Score: 2, Informative

    There are no good technology conferences, my friend.

    1. Re:Any good technology conferences to attend? by ArhcAngel · · Score: 4, Funny

      There are no good technology conferences, my friend.

      You are mistaken. They list several.

      --
      "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
    2. Re:Any good technology conferences to attend? by skatefriday · · Score: 2

      There are no good technology conferences, my friend.

      Never been to Defcon, have you?

  3. Dreamforce and MS TechEd by VTBlue · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Dreamforce and TechED get my vote, sadly TechEd will no longer be around, but they are recorded and very interesting.

  4. Congratulations! by Pumpkin+Tuna · · Score: 5, Informative

    I work on the instructional side of technology in K-12. I would suggest the yearly ISTE conference. It rotates around the country in late June. Next year it will be in Philly, I believe. It is massive and has sessions on instruction, administration and pretty much anything else you can imagine. The vendor area usually draws the latest heavy hitters in software, services and hardware.

    You may also want to check and see if your state has an ISTE affiliate group. They often hold quality state conferences as well. Here in North Carolina, we have NCTIES in March. It's good for a state conference.

    1. Re:Congratulations! by i.r.id10t · · Score: 2

      The League for Innovation also does conferences. Educause may be good.

        Both of these are education focused, but there is plenty of technology going on as well.

      --
      Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos
  5. Rotate by skydude_20 · · Score: 2

    When you find a few, rotate through them over the years. Most conferences I find don't change/update enough in subsequent years. Plus you get a diversity of tech/people.

    --
    Jesus saves souls and redeems them for valuable cash prizes
  6. try these lists ...USENIX, OSCON, VMworld by traveller9 · · Score: 3, Informative

    This should get you started. USENIX https://www.usenix.org/confere... VMWorld http://www.vmworld.com/index.j... OSCON (must wait until 2015) http://www.oscon.com/oscon2014...

  7. More info? by Darth+Twon · · Score: 5, Informative

    Without knowing your interests or area of expertise, there are some big ones like:

    Spiceworld
    Various Microsoft conferences: Exchange, SharePoint, TechEd
    Some Cisco stuff

    And Probably a whole host of others. Choose a vendor/specialty and search for their conferences.

    --
    Take this sig and smoke it.
  8. Hard to travel to. by nospam007 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If I were you, I'd go quickly.

    Most of them are back in the nineties.

    1. Re:Hard to travel to. by Darinbob · · Score: 2

      Yes that's useful. The idea of "technology conference" is extremely vague. One could go to a conference on nuclear power engineering and still be considered a technology conference. Or a Blackberry conference, or a video game devices conference, and so forth.

      So for a conference to be actually useful, it should be something related to the job being done and where something of value can be acquired. Otherwise it's just a fun holiday at the employer's expense. So even conferences that seem related to the job can be a waste of money if there's no return on the investment. Watch out for the things that are just big marketing showcases because they're pointless and everyone is lying. Also a vendor-sponsored conference is likely to be biased.

  9. sxsw interactive by trybywrench · · Score: 2

    It's fun and can be informative if you know what you're looking for. Try to stay late and leave a few days after interactive is over so you can experience part of the music festival. The whole deal can be overwhelming however.

    --
    I came to the datacenter drunk with a fake ID, don't you want to be just like me?
  10. It would be a bit of a help by redmid17 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    to know exactly what you're doing. IT supervisor is about as generic as consultant.

    Do you run the helpdesk?
    Are you in charge of the student hourlies?
    Do you have a cadre of minions running the data center?

    If you don't know that, what would get you fired in 2 seconds?

  11. USENIX and LISA SIG (formely known as SAGE). by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The USENIX Annual Technical Conference is quite good.
    Then probably all of the USENIX conferences. Check them here https://www.usenix.org/conferences

    You also have LISA SIG (the Large Installation Systems Administration Special Interest Group) conference. https://www.usenix.org/lisa

    If you work with Electronic Arts, try to get to EADC, it's great.

  12. Re:If only... by GrumpySteen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He asked which ones are good to attend, not which ones are best at SEO.

  13. Location, Location, Location by grasshoppa · · Score: 2

    If you're a former grunt, then you've seen the after effect of these conferences. At best, it gets your bosses out of your hair for a few days. At worse, they come back revved up to implement the newest buzz work...for a week, until they see the cost, then it's like it never happened.

    Take my advice; choose based on location and work up your justification from there. Myself, Vegas is always an attractive option, but by no means should you limit yourself. Be imaginative. /jaded and tarnished.

    --
    Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
  14. Very simple decision by smooth+wombat · · Score: 4, Funny

    Which ever one is in Las Vegas.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
  15. You have to get more specific by sandytaru · · Score: 2

    For example, I adore the Web Afternoon conferences I've attended, but unless you work on websites, then there might not be a lot of useful content there for you.

    A lot of tech conferences can also be sorted by industry. Medical tech is huge, for example, and has its own set of regular gatherings.

    --
    Occasionally living proof of the Ballmer peak.
  16. SCALE - http://www.socallinuxexpo.org by mrflash818 · · Score: 2

    SCALE - http://www.socallinuxexpo.org/

    --
    Uh, Linux geek since 1999.
  17. Location, Location, Location by ardmhacha · · Score: 5, Funny

    select conference_name
    from all_conferences
    where conference_location = 'HAWAII'

  18. DEF CON by uolamer · · Score: 2

    DEF CON - https://www.defcon.org/

    --
    s/©//g
  19. LISA Conference by sentiblue · · Score: 4, Informative

    I go to this conference at least once every 2 years https://www.usenix.org/confere...

  20. Suggestions for the Apple technologist by plsuh · · Score: 3, Informative

    In chronological order looking forward:

    MacTech Boot Camps - http://www.mactech.com/bootcam...
    Small, local, inexpensive. Check to see if there's one close to you.

    MacTech Conference - http://www.mactech.com/confere...
    Larger, both sysadmin and developer tracks

    MacIT - http://www.macitconf.com/
    Larger, multiple tracks and levels of knowledge

    WWDC - https://developer.apple.com/ww...
    The granddaddy of them all, but next to impossible to get into these days. Mostly developer focused. May not be useful if you don't already have a deep knowledge base.

    MacAdmins - http://macadmins.psu.edu/
    The most education-focused of the conferences. Very knowledgeable presenters.

    FWIW, I've been a presenter at MacTech Boot Camps, MacIT, and WWDC.

    --Paul

  21. USENIX, SuperComputing by Meeni · · Score: 2

    You should try these 2: USENIX and SuperComputing. They are the most enjoyable for a non-academic to attend.