I recently got back from several conferences DataTune in Nashville, TN; then FABCON/SQLCON and SQL Saturday Atlanta BI in Atlanta, GA. And over these few weeks, I spent time between sessions thinking about how to make the most of my time. At a tech conference, we generally have tracks for what you are learning (Data, Programming, Professional Development) or some other organization like Emerging or Legacy Tech, or something similar.

But at another level, you can think of conferences as having:

• Conference target topics based track
• General or targeted professional development
• Hallway track

The first is self explanatory and much like when you were in school, the one you will likely get graded on when you go back to the place that is paying you to go to a conference. (Unless you are in marketing or conference operations, naturally.) If you are at a data conference, there will be topics on how to use, display, protect, and basically do pretty much anything, with data.

The other two, well let’s discuss.

Professional development

I won’t even pretend that I have always found this interesting or even useful. In fact, the used to seem kind of silly (or even dangerous, as I will discuss.) Silly because I didn’t come to the “Write better SQL” conference to hear about how I need to take time for myself. I came to find out the best way to write a query that will answer the five page question that someone just handed me. (I mean that is what I am speaking on at Day of Data Richmond this weekend.) So why on earth am I going to go sit in a room and be told to relax occasionally.

But to an extent, I was wrong. Not that you won’t find a subsection of these types of sessions not your cup of tea, but I have started trying to either attend or deliver one of these sessions when I can. The most recent was one Steve Jones gave in Atlanta on life balance. While I have to be honest and realize that if I listen to do much of this talk, I will have to substantially change my blogging/vlogging habits, I definitely wanted to hear Steve’s take because he is busier than 3 Louis’s.

One of my actual problems with these kinds of sessions can be when a person says trite/unrealistic things. Steve told it like it is, he IS busy and it is complicated. At DataTune I presented a session called “Caring is Sharing and Writing is Sharing” and while I definitely extol the values of writing, I don’t make it sound like it is easy. It is not and never will be. But it is kind of addicting and awesome.

The hallway track

The hallway track is clearly not a scheduled track. If you want to get real about it, it is really just people being social and talking about stuff they care about. Sometimes that is sports, sometimes where we ate the night before, and others… well for those of us who are at tech conferences by choice. We talk about tech. Passionately.

It sounds dreadful if you are an introvert. Dreadful horrible no good. And it kind of started that way for me too. My first few years going to the PASS Summit, while I spoke at the conference, I did not speak to other people. I went back to my room at night and hid out. I may be misremembering the actual start, but somehow I met Kevin Kline and had talked to him some. Then I met him in real life at the Opry Mills mall (remember malls?) and we talked. It was around that time I started to meet more and more people and get involved in the community.

If you are involved in the data community, there are so many people who become well known just from the hallway track. Even if you don’t want to be well known, many many problems have been solved roaming the halls of conferences everywhere for years on end. I have so many friends I see yearly/every few years/and some you don’t see for 5 years and you both end up in a conference hallway and catch up.

The biggest problem with the hallway track? Some people abuse it and only use it like a rung on a ladder. It is a rung on a ladder, but that ladder is an MC Escher brand ladder that takes you where it takes you as much as you can force it.

Summary

In my opinion, a great conference is a balance of sessions that teach me things about tech, a professional session or two that teach me about me, and the hallway track where you create connections. I won’t say there aren’t conferences where I don’t do anything other than the hallway track, because it is wonderful to make/remake friends. But the most memorable times are when you learn new things, learn a bit about making me better, and you get a high five, a handshake or even a semi-reluctant hug (I don’t like hugs all that much, so I am not the initiator!)