A few years back, I remember reading an article discussing how the trouble of attending a tech conference in-person far outweighs the benefits that could come from it. Obviously, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced practically all well known tech conferences to shift to a virtual format at least for the remainder of this year. Ironically enough, the organization that runs CES (shown in the featured image) plans to hold the show as scheduled in early January 2021 while adopting physical distancing and cleanliness measures.
As the pandemic has continued keeping me work from home since March, one bright side of this is that almost all the companies that throw these huge (and expensive) conferences have shifted to a virtual format that’s free for attendees and others like myself who would not have been able to attend. Still, despite the great advances in technology that have made virtual conferences possible, the social interaction that us humans need is something only that an in-person conference can bring.
Kurt Mackie has written an article that gives his perspective on attending in-person conferences and makes no apologies about what his preference is; I have to say that I mostly agree with him. Check out his article here and here’s to hoping that at this time next year, in-person conference will be back and safe to attend.
