'Tis the Season...For Conferences

It's that time of year again, when the onslaught of conferences and events leave companies, government representatives and members of the media scrambling to keep up with their schedules. Take mine, for example. Last month I was in New York for a trade journalism event and in Chicago for the Synnex government conference. This month I'm in Orlando for Tech Data's TechEDG show -- then back just in time to prepare myself for our own XChange Government Integrator event in a couple of weeks.

This, of course, is only compounded by the standard government events that constantly take place in the Beltway, offering ample opportunity to have breakfast, lunch and dinner provided five workdays a week, should one so choose.

So here's the question: How valuable are these events, and what drives people to attend? This is not a rhetorical question; anyone who can offer an answer, please send me an e-mail. In this market, of course, the presence of a high-ranking government official is sure to lead to a significant uptick in attendance for any event. I say that from experience. But beyond that, I still wonder.

For me, events that focus on the public-sector market and bring vendors, solution providers and perhaps a few public-sector customers and industry gurus into the same room will win out. That explains why distributors' events (as well as our own) take priority. But with invitations flowing on a near-daily basis from a whole slew of other hosts, I find it difficult to decide what's worth my time. To anyone with words of wisdom, I'm all ears.