Several of us at Casino City have attended the CAC and CAP conferences for the past several years, and we are going to have 8 people at CAC this year. I for one view that they have been worthwhile attending, and recommend them to anyone who devotes significant effort to this business.
IMHO, the networking is important – the relationships and insights that come from talking with others invaluable. Just sitting at a terminal at work on a site simply does not provide the same perspective as getting out and meeting with others in the business.
And I vote for the conferences with my wallet. Some part of things might be comped for us – but we’ve never asked for airfare or hotel rooms. In our case the people we’re sending are salaried employees, and in addition to paying their normal travel expenses, we pay their salaries to attend. The rationale is simple, I think they get enough out of the conferences for it to be worth the expense.
If you are self-employed in this business the cost of attending is a lot less than our costs as an employer for sending people, and your benefit will probably be even greater – after all, it’s your money, and so you will be even more motivated to get a good return on your investment.
If you have not been before, and are uncertain about whether it is worth attending, I have a simple message – go – I really do believe you will come away with fresh perspectives, and you will be glad you went.