FOR PEOPLE WHO GO
See what a conference actually is before you commit.
Four days and a few thousand pounds is a real decision, and event websites are written to sell. Fairground records what an event is — its size, its shape, who sponsors it and who speaks — sourced from the event's own published material.
What the event actually is.
Dates, location, size, industry and the shape of the audience in aggregate. Enough to tell a serious event from a well-marketed one. Built from the event's own published pages, so you are reading what it says about itself, not a listing written to sell.
Who is in the room.
The companies that sponsor an event and the people who speak at it, as recorded on the event's programme. A sponsor list tells you who thinks this audience is worth paying for — often the fastest read on whether an event is serious about your field.
Keep the year in one place.
Save the events you are weighing up to a list. Save a search and come back to it. Subscribe to a calendar feed so what you are tracking sits in the calendar you already use, rather than in six open tabs.
Speaking as well as going?
Track the events you are targeting to speak at in the same list as the ones you are attending, so the year is one view rather than a spreadsheet you update twice and abandon.