I have to admit, until recently I’ve stayed away from conferences.  For a couple of reasons … 1) as an independent consultant they are often too expensive for me to consider AND 2) work gets in the way and I always feel that I should be working rather than attending a conference.  Especially as an independent consultant… it’s about the billable hours, right?  (At least that’s what my wife tells me).



Recently, though, I’ve had new opportunities to attend important IT-related conferences and I’ve been rethinking my stance on these things.  Yes, I will admit that my admission has been free as I’ve been able to obtain media passes because of my professional articles.  So what that does is place me back in the category with the W2 employees who don’t usually have to pay their own way into the conferences they attend.  Now we’re back on even ground…



What I have found recently is that there are, indeed, some benefits to be found in sucking it up and taking time away from work to attend a professional conference that is applicable to area of expertise.  Here are four that come to mind:



#1 – Networking with peers



Whether you’re an independent professional or a W2 employee and in either case have more work than you can handle, never ever underestimate the value of networking with your peers.  Take a look at the economy if you haven’t lately.  Tomorrow could be the day that you need to take advantage of professional contacts that you’ve made at a conference or professional gathering.



Take a lot of business cards with you and make a point to get together with professionals in your line of work.  Networking with other project management professionals is not only a good way to potentially get an ‘in’ at another organization, but it is also a great time to share ideas, templates, frustrations, etc.



#2 – Resetting your mindset



Even if networking and schmoozing is not your thing, then at least putting things on hold for awhile and meeting up with some peers and taking the time to take in new information related to your profession is worth it.  Look at it as a chance to reset your mind.  As a project manager, you’re under constant stress and pressure to not only perform well on your projects but also to ensure that your projects as a whole perform well.  I realize that getting away from it to reset your thinking at a conference is not that easy and you’re likely to have your phone/email with you at all times, but it still helps if you can at least ‘tentatively’ put someone else in charge of your project for the week and make it to a conference.  The take aways may even be beneficial to current projects and yield immediate benefits.



#3 – Staying current with today’s topics







No one knows everything about his or her profession.  Even with project management where most of the topics, certification, and best practices are already known, there are still chances to learn at good conferences.  Attending IT conferences can help the technical project manager look at customer requirements in a new light with potentially new solutions to offer.  Meeting with like-minded peer project managers and other project professionals may give you new ideas on efficient and effective ways to manage your projects.  There’s always something that can be learned.



#4 – Just to get away from work and life