A discussion in the forums on the Young i Professionals website gave me cause to consider a question that many IT departments face every year: Are IT conferences still a practical option for education in the twenty-first century? In my role as manager of the website, I have the privilege of hearing the opinions and stories of my fellow young i professionals, which is one of the reasons why I'm involved. I've heard both pros and cons for attending conferences.

The Cons

Management often complains about conference attendance, and absence of staff members is by far the biggest issue. The problem can be especially tough for small shops with few staff members. It seems much more prevalent in the i ecosystem because IBM i generally requires less administration and maintenance than its competitors. The company for which I work has a relatively large staff, but I have attended conferences with friends from small shops. They simply keep their laptops and cell phones with them during the day in case a problem should arise.

Many opponents of conference attendance cite cost as a major factor supporting their viewpoint. Obviously, conferences are not free. There are registration fees, transportation, food, and hotel expenses to consider. For companies that do not have training budgets, conference attendance can be a tough sell to upper management. With the recent volatility of the economy, companies often consider educational expenses to be easy budget cuts.

Of course, the Internet also keeps many IT workers away from conferences every year. Let's face it, just about any information you could possibly want is available on the Internet via your search engine of choice. The wealth of knowledge available on the web can be both a tremendous strength and a weakness. Given enough time and effort, one can find the answer to virtually any technical question using a search engine. Unfortunately, you often need to wade through a huge mass of unrelated, questionable, or just plain incorrect information before you find the answer you truly need. The Internet can be both frustrating and time consuming, but it's also absolutely free and doesn't require you to leave your desk.

So, we've touched on some of the cons of conference attendance. If we stop here, it's very easy to discount conferences completely. After all, there are some real downsides to consider when deciding whether a conference is a practical way to learn IT skills. Not so fast though. There are many advantages to conferences as well. In fact, I am more in favor of attending them than not.

The Pros

For me, the relationships I have started and built at conferences are truly special. While conversing with people on forums and mailing lists is useful and fun, it still cannot compete with face-to-face interaction with peers. Conferences are often "average Joe's" best opportunity to have an audience with the right people. After all, there are not too many places where you can pull a general manager or chief architect of IBM aside and tell him or her what you think—both positive and negative. Conferences also give attendees opportunities to become involved in the IBM i community. In fact, the Young i Professionals group was reorganized and revitalized by a group of COMMON attendees at last year's annual event in Nashville.

Another pro of conference attendance is the opportunity to focus on education for a few days. I learn new things about IBM i technology and IT in general almost daily. But I rarely have the time to devote myself to ensuring that I understand every aspect of a particular topic. More often than not, I find enough information to get the job done and then move on to the next task. For this reason, I find it highly beneficial to commit myself to a few days of education without the interruptions of the office.

Obviously, information abounds in the classrooms at most conferences. Education is what the conferences are for. But don't overlook the other great conference resource: peers. You can get more unbiased real-world information about products and technologies over lunch or at a social event than anywhere else. Chances are someone else has done or is doing is the same task that you are trying to accomplish in your workplace. This type of guidance can be a valuable timesaver when working on a project outside your comfort zone.

So the question remains: are conferences worth the money and time it takes to attend them? The answer will always be up for debate. Some will always say "No," regardless of anyone else's opinion. Some will remain on the other side of the fence. For me, conferences are a valuable resource that I depend on to expand my knowledge on a regular basis. Like any other source of information, I believe there will always be a place and a need for conferences in the IT community.

Brian May is an IT Project Manager at Garan Manufacturing, where he began his career as an RPG developer in 2001. He also is a leader of the Young i Professionals and a member of multiple COMMON committees. Brian speaks about and writes on topics related to open source software on IBM i.