So you can't travel the globe for every conference, but finally you discover that there's a conference in your area. Now you need to justify the expenses. Is it worth $1500+ for just a few PowerPoint presentations, or is there more to it?
The session in question is actually one of the SMX series, so Danny Sullivan chimed into the thread and provided some insights about the cost vs. value. The cost really does justify the content and other conferences aren't much different in this respect. For SMX in particular, Danny notes that there are lower cost networking passes if you already consider yourself a pro.
In the end, one of the bigger questions drills down to the number of people you can potentially make business deals with. At an SES conference, for instance, there are a lot more people you can partner with. On the other hand, SMX is much smaller and business opportunities aren't as abundant.
But Danny admits that attending the conference is not just to gather "tidbits" of information and instead says that it's full of value. I can't agree more. In fact, someone who already attended an SMX event vouches for it:
For experienced SEMs, SMX Advanced is definitely worth the money. I can personally vouch for that!
If cost is a question on a regular basis, though, don't attend every conference; just attend those specific to your area of expertise (whether it be advanced tactics, social media, or a general conference like SMX West/East).
Forum discussion continues at Search Engine Watch Forums.
