I enjoy attending conferences but I don’t necessarily love attending conferences IYKYK. I live close to the center of the United States so if a conference is further than 2 hours by plane, the trip becomes a huge investment of time, money and energy. When I say “yes” to an event I’ve typically worked through the following calculations: Who will be there? Is this city one that I’m excited to spend time in? Will I connect with potential opportunities? Is the content good? (I still enjoy going to conferences for the content) Will I earn back the money that I invested to be in that space with 4-6 weeks of attendance? Ultimately, I’m asking myself does it even make sense to attend? WIth all of the stuff happening in the United States (imagine me flailing my arms wildly) I’m thinking a lot about where my money and time is focused in 2026.
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Show Notes
These days there are so many conferences to choose from focused on helping content creators/digital entrepreneurs connect with one another, learn more about the craft of growing an online brand and more. Here’s a short list of events that I’m talking about.
- FinCon-I’m in the personal finance space and this is a conference that I typically attend and has traditionally been a very lucrative event for me to attend. I was supposed to attend this year, but I decided to stay home (even though I bought tickets) I’m still feeling a little emotionally tired from this summer and don’t think I’ll show up at my best this year.
- Podcast Movement and Podcast Movement Evolutions-I did attend Evolutions this year but with the location change to NYC instead of San Diego, I’ve decided that I won’t be attending in 2026.
- VidCon-Currently, I don’t have a video forward brand even though I am co-hosting a weekly livestream via the Substack app.
- Social Media Marketing World-This event is massive but I’m not excited about going to Anaheim next year.
What Factors Matter for 2026
Here is what I’m looking at to help me decide when I’ll say “yes” to attending an event.
- Conference Size-In 2026 if there are more than 500 people at a US based event, It’s unlikely that I’ll attend. If the event is larger, have they focused on making it easy for attendees to really meet on another? Will I leave having met and spent time with at least 5 amazing people that I might stay in community with after the event? This also speaks to the broader issue of being in community with incredible people.
- Location and Activities-Like most people, I’m pretty particular about event locations. If you’re new to me you may not know that I actually boycott states since I was in high school. There’s no way I’m traveling to a place that I feel is problematic or potentially unsafe for the attendees. If you’re from outside the US, I’m going to say that I’m finding it increasingly strange when I hear that people are coming over right now. Just know, I may be side-eyeing you.
- Content Quality and Clarity-I’m really looking for events that are focused on very specific areas of growing my online brand and will I be able to leave with action items as an advanced creator and brand builder.
- Email list building
- Newsletter growth
- Community building
- Digital products design/growth and sales
- Energy and Inspiration-How inspired will I be during the experience? Will I leave talking about, thinking and reflecting on the experience? Am I excited to go and am I geeked out to be there?
- Cost-I’m still spending money and making purchases that help me grow my business. However, I’m really evaluating even more than before the connection between the cost of attending an event and projected long-term outcomes. Let’s be clear, I’m not necessarily saying I’m being cheap in 2026. In fact, there’s one event in particular that I’m very excited about that is expensive and that I’m opening an account for to save towards the cost of that experience. I’m just saying, I’m not randomly attending every event that I’m excited about. I’m being extra careful with where I’m spending what I’ve allocated for professional development activities and conference attendance is where I focus a lot of my professional development focus.
- Long-term opportunities-Does this community space curate the following: opportunities to connect with other creators, business or brands providing attendees with the potential to make money, expand their brand and be in the room with people who make big decisions.
- Who are the attendees-Who are the people attracted to the event. Will I be comfortable around them? Are they building projects that I’m excited about, would I want to be in community with them after attending the event? Here’s a random example I live in Colorado and am not a fan of Vail or Aspen. They are both very beautiful towns and I like the people who work in the towns. I consistently dislike the visitors of both towns. Every single time I visit those towns, if there’s an issue it’s always because of the clientele. They get on my damn nerves. I’ll never forget that one time I came across Lindsey Vaughn and Tiger Woods when they were dating. It was clear that their relationship was on the skids that day. Also, Telluride and Crested Butte exist-much better towns to visit with nicer people.
I don’t think I’m the only person who is really dialing in what they’re spending money, energy and time on as it relates to building their business and brand during unprecedented times. What are you choosing to do?
