Collected reasons of why one shouldn’t attend design conferences:
“Because there is no substance. There’s no theme for a proper stimulating discussion.”
“Because everything is just a show-and-tell – there are no thoughts involved, no new opinions, no fresh viewpoints on the state of design, etc etc. All you would be seeing are already posted on the Net.”
“Because I could have bought his book and see all that he will be showing.”
“Because we can’t learn anything from the speakers, since we can’t apply it in our daily work for our local narrow-minded clients.”
“Because out of the 10 speakers, only 2 are relevant to me. I am a web designer, why should I listen to the brand guru?”
“Because out of the 10 speakers, I only like two of them.”
“Because I am in advertising, and these are designers who don’t understand advertising.”
“Because we shouldn’t be listening to foreigners. We have enough local talents who understand the local culture better. We don’t need foreigners to preach to us about good design. Design is meant to carry one’s heritage and cultural identity.”
“Because my lecturer says it is useless to listen to these speakers. Recommended us to just buy his monograph.”
“Because the speakers are so old-school, I don’t like their style.”
“Because the venue doesn’t sound prestigious enough for me.”
“Because for that amount of money, the organiser is ripping everyone off by not even serving lunch.”
“Because the program schedule doesn’t say what the speaker is going to talk about.”
“Because my HR director won’t approve the budget for me to listen to all these speakers. Claims that it doesn’t help the company (which specialises in annual reports).”
“Because I do not want to be influenced by other designers. Every designer should create their own style.”
“Because I don’t believe in paying to watch designers show their portfolio.”
“Because an event for the designer’s community should be free because designers don’t make much money.”
I see it otherwise.