Too Much Nyquil Does Funny Things to People
Did I say WPC had no value? I’ve been upfront about my ideas regarding the value of Symposium and WPC for over a year now, including the very real value for smaller providers of something huge like WPC, even before the very real addition of SMB this year into WPC proper.
Most people simply don’t have the time to spend hour upon endless hours agonizing about whether WPC, as a primarily S&M show (sales and marketing, ya freakbags!), actually offers any value to the technically minded SMB IT consultant/business owner. But for those who do decide that WPC makes sense for them, when they get some insight from attending that shakes them to their foundations, that’s a fantastically good thing. An unexamined life (or business) isn’t worth living (or building).
But math is math, and as I’ve said before…
Sometimes, the math simply doesn’t work
There is always a point when you can and should push back from the table and say…
No thanks. I’m full.
My own post on tips for wringing the most value out of a big conference like WPC has, at its base, the central idea that you, as an individual, make the conference (or meeting, or whatever endeavor you are involved in), not the other way ‘round.
Perhaps that post doesn’t count tho, since it’s part of the damn dirty part of the Funboard that requires you, as an individual, to take action and register. Well, it used to be, anyway. That’s a whole different hissy-fit.
But primarily, just like anything you do, you should have a plan and execute on that plan. Sure, be flexible enough to not miss unexpected opportunities, but be disciplined enough not to get side-tracked.
And you make a plan by first figuring out what you will do and what you expect to get out of it. You can’t quantify those results precisely, but my own personal assessment was…
Too much cost; not enough return
Yeah, I used money to illustrate the point, but that’s only because it gets people’s attention. Even so, for those paying attention, there’s a major hole or 3 in a “You’re an idiot if you miss this” hissy-fit.
When you’ve looked at something like WPC from every conceivable angle, taking into account even all the intangible benefits, and it still doesn’t add up for you…should you ignore that conclusion and push ahead anyway?
Maybe. But that sounds an awful lot like sticking your head in sand.
And if it’s all about the other attendees, not the content or the speakers or some of the other stuff, then why would anyone skip any conference ever? Why avoid certain conferences because of a perceived lack of quality in the formal content?
Further, why would anyone in their right mind ever even think about taking a radical step like clearing their conference schedule for the rest of the year?
Because actually implementing what you’ve learned/discussed/thought about at a given conference is the only way you get any value back out.
Other words…
Thinking without implementing = Brain crack
There definitely is a point where enough is enough. That goes for everyone, and for everything.
But who am I, after all?
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