http://blogs.msdn.com/jmazner/archive/2005/04/07/406322.aspxMy post last week in response to Scott generated some good discussion about the value of developer conferences in general. It certainly got me pondering more about how we ought to think of the value of PDC. As luck would have it, our creative agency foren-USCommunityServer 2.1 SP1 (Build: 61025.2)http://blogs.msdn.com/jmazner/archive/2005/04/07/406322.aspx#406336Fri, 08 Apr 2005 01:57:58 GMT91d46819-8472-40ad-a661-2c78acb4018c:406336MSDN Webcasts WeblogJeremy Mazner writes a great article&amp;amp;nbsp;on his blog as to&amp;amp;nbsp;why develpers go to conferences. Certainly...http://blogs.msdn.com/jmazner/archive/2005/04/07/406322.aspx#406389Fri, 08 Apr 2005 05:59:55 GMT91d46819-8472-40ad-a661-2c78acb4018c:406389Ian SmithI think one of the biggest pluses of conferences (I've previously commented on how I generally find them poor value compared with traditional training from the better companies) is the &quot;regain your lost enthusiasm&quot; aspects. We all have times when the long hours, the constantly changing environment and the inability to cope with information overload which seem de rigeur in this industry can get stressful and de-motivating. Conferences are a great way of re-discovering the enthusiasm that drew you to this industry in the first place and re-vitalising you when you're a bit down on the day job.http://blogs.msdn.com/jmazner/archive/2005/04/07/406322.aspx#406432Fri, 08 Apr 2005 08:53:35 GMT91d46819-8472-40ad-a661-2c78acb4018c:406432Denis@Ian: <br>I can only second that! It's like recharging your battery. <br>You see some cool stuff, and all you want to do is get your hands on it, to try it out!http://blogs.msdn.com/jmazner/archive/2005/04/07/406322.aspx#406603Fri, 08 Apr 2005 20:10:12 GMT91d46819-8472-40ad-a661-2c78acb4018c:406603Walter LounsberyIf physical community (as opposed to virtual communities like the Microsoft techie blogspace) is a prime motivator, then we should remember something here. And that is the drive to assemble .NET user groups all over the world. It's been very successful. And it is somewhat ;-) subsidized by Microsoft itself. Does this defuse motivation for attending expensive yearly geekfests like PDC? Hmmm...http://blogs.msdn.com/jmazner/archive/2005/04/07/406322.aspx#409088Mon, 18 Apr 2005 06:50:36 GMT91d46819-8472-40ad-a661-2c78acb4018c:409088robertConferences bring random gifts and qwerky opinions that lead to new ways of looking at the same dull stuff I stare at all day. It may be a particular comment, or a library I had missed. It may be something I find on the free CD. It may be a quote, a joke, or a bit of code that looks too simple to be functional. I go because it is a way of viewing my been-there-done-that work as though it was the wild wild west, a new unexplored frontier. I could not get there without going to a conference, or a user-group meeting, or even to a mega-conference where I collect tons of stuff without really talking to anyone but presenters.