Published in IT Wire, August 31 2001

Don't bother denying it. When you go in and try to persuade your boss that the company should send you away to a conference or training event, the subject matter is not the only thing that concerns you. Both of you are also concerned about the other attractions of the venue.

For your boss, the desire to see you improve your knowledge and help the company reach its goals better has to be balanced against not only the costs of sending you there (registration, air fares and accommodation quickly mount up), but also the likelihood that you'll skive off from some of the duller sessions and spend time checking out the nearby casino/beach/theme park/strip joint. For you, the desire to improve your credentials has to be balanced against the fact that 50% of the conference sessions will basically be disguised advertorials and several of your friends live in the city in question. Anyway, everyone knows the most important thing you can do at these events is network and make informal contacts, right? If the organisers didn't want you doing other fun stuff, every conference in Australia would be held in Canberra.

It's easy to distinguish between veteran conference attendees and those who are showing up for the first time. The conference virgins race up to the front so they can get the best views, and carefully fill out their assessment forms. The wiser and (generally) older position themselves near the back door, so they can make a speedy exit. Tip: if someone tries to stop you, brandish your mobile phone threateningly and say you have an urgent call.

There's a flipside to this too. After the obligatory evening party event, the experienced attendees are still able to make it to the next morning's sessions. The now defiled conference virgins are generally either unconscious or puking their guts up.

And naturally it isn't just the attendees who get down and get funky while they're on the road. The presenters and organisers are also out for a good time, and they're no less likely to admit to it then you are.

While at a Tech Ed press conference, IT Wire asked an assembled group of imported US speakers from Microsoft to describe the most outrageous thing they'd ever done at a developer conference. The mass outbreak of red faces and embarrassed mumblings suggested that these were stories they didn't want to get out to the general public, or at least not back to their partners.

After some prodding, .NET technical product manager L J Germinario confessed that during the recent European Tech Ed developer fest in Spain, she and five other colleagues took part in the famed 'running of the bulls'. Five of the six successfully finished the event. How much alcohol they consumed to celebrate this success was not recorded, but it seems safe to assume that Microsoft footed the bill.

It would also not be fair to pretend that journalists are immune to these offerings. After all, it was a journo who famously drove a golf buggy into the lake during a Com Tech Forum event in Coolum a few years ago. Still, at least it gave everyone something to talk about while they nursed their Sunday morning hangovers before getting back to the real purpose of the event: the conference sessions.