Are Tech Conferences Overrated? (cnn.com)

"The tech industry has reached a maximum saturation point for conferences, summits and forums," writes CNN's senior media reporter, sharing his general disillusionment after Recode's recent Code Conference: But even at their best, these events fail to generate truly significant news because executives have been media-trained to the point of impenetrability... [S]peakers like Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi and Spotify CEO Daniel Ek have mastered the art -- there should be a German word for it -- of speaking for 30+ minutes without saying much of consequence or going beyond their comfort zone... [I]n two days, nothing was said on stage that fundamentally changed the existing narrative for any of these companies... Business executives are more strategic and more cautious than ever in how they speak publicly. The business media needs to be equally strategic in pushing them to say more.
He argues that the best things about conferences happen offstage, when attendees network and talk among themselves. Is that your experience, Slashdot readers?

Share your own thoughts in the comments. Are tech conferences overrated?

Comments

Are you sure you're talking about tech conferences

[Anonymous Coward]

Sounds like the author means marketing conferences not tech conferences.

I go to tech conferences to listen to senior developers and architects speak about exiting new technologies. I'm not looking for a scoop so I'm completely satisfied.

Re:Are you sure you're talking about tech conferen

[postbigbang]

Conferences are about conferring. It's not a PR event where you get to blather about your own stuff endlessly, while making sure that the competition and the tough questions aren't within a thousand yards.

It's a love fest. Kiss kiss. Pure vanity. Nothing else exists in the high-cost reality distortion field. The stench of bullshit is everywhere, and the fanbois are buying suitcase full loads of merch.

The venues that used to talk real issues are gone. It's all about the lovefest. Kiss kiss.

There were a lot of conferences, often the crux of independent financiers, that really evolved this industry. If it's a vendor show, however, it's a love fest. Nothing to see there, just a vacation with logo merch. Nothing controversial. Nothing to see there.

Bottom line: it's who's financing it that dictates whether you'll be subject to actual conferring, knowledge transfer across a spectrum, and independent voices, uncontrolled by a PR machine.