In my experience, work-shops at public conferences are hardly about that. They are more about sharing of case studies at best; or sheer talk, talk, talk at worst.
I must admit though. I have become addicted. I love 3 three things about talk-shops:
- Opportunity to interrogate my own thoughts. I consider myself an average Joe who, driven by ambition, allows his mind to imagine. But, I do not always trust my own ideas (wish I can find something to blame, like apartheid maybe?). More often than not, I hear my thoughts being echoed in the various talk-shops I attend, and it reassures me immensely to realize that I have perfectly functioning brain cells. As a result, I am now happily writing my thoughts down and sharing them with all those who care to read my posts.
- Networking. My business cards are running out (and it is great to know that I did not waste money in printing costs while contributing to destroying the ecosystem), and the number of influencers I follow on Twitter is growing. However, there is an increasing number of serial talk-shoppers like me. I know this because I am meeting the usual suspects more and more, who I now know by name, at the various talk-shops. Thus I am starting to experience diminishing returns in this regard.
- Goody bags. Not sure why the name, because not all of them have goody stuff in them. But some of them make attending the talk-shops worth a while.
Is all of the above worth it given time spent in the talk-shops? Well, I see it as a “horses-for-course” issue. Thus, it depends on the horse you bet on, and it ‘s not always possible to predict the outcome.
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RELATED BLOGSITES
- Nuffdotty – where thoughts on the subject of education, mostly relating to South Africa, are shared
- Diski4Life – a blog about development of South African soccer post World Cup 2010
