Tough times for tech conferences

Developers are staying away from technology conferences. Maybe they’re going to fewer events, or sending smaller teams to must-attend conferences. Maybe they’re only going to conferences that are within driving distance, or are attending “free” vendor-sponsored marketing events instead of educational forums. No matter what, the decline of our leading events is a loss for everyone.

I love going to technology conferences. While online communications and phone chat are great for learning about new technologies and trends, there’s nothing like the mass face-to-face experience of a conference to keep me in looped into the software development industry.

Still, there’s no denying that conferences are expensive, in terms of tuition, travel, room, food, and time out of the office. If you have control over your own travel schedule and budget, like I do, the economy means making hard choices. If your manager has control of your travel, you’ll have to work hard to make your case. If you work for a big company, there’s a good chance that a full or partial ban on technology conferences is in effect.

Consider Microsoft’s TechEd, one of the must-attend events. Last year, TechEd had split into two separate weeks, one for developers, another for IT professionals like systems administrators. This year, TechEd is back to a single week – May 11-15 in Los Angeles. Today, we learned that Microsoft is expecting TechEd to be even smaller than we thought, as described in this exhibitor communiqué:

Tech·Ed is not immune to the impacts of limited budgets available for business travel and professional development activities (such as events) resulting from the financial pressures of today’s economic environment. On average, industry event attendance is currently trending 30%-40% lower than anticipated. Tech·Ed North America currently expects an audience of approximately 6,000, including attendees, Press staff, Microsoft staff, speakers, and booth staff, so please plan accordingly for booth staff and any marketing collateral or giveaways.

The drop-off is bigger than the Microsoft market, of course. Last week, I attended EclipseCon, the annual gathering from the Eclipse Foundation. Its attendance dropped from about 1,300 last year to about 800 this year. A few weeks earlier, SD West did so poorly that TechWeb shut down the entire family of events, including SD West, SD Best Practices and Architecture & Design World.

I dread to see what this year’s JavaOne, June 2-5 in San Francisco, will look like.

Tell me about your conference plans. Are you going to fewer events this year — or none? Do you have corporate restrictions on attending conferences? How is this affecting your professional skills development and sense of involvement in the software development industry?