A few weeks ago, just before returning from our Fall Smart Grid RoadShow Conference in Corpus Christi, Texas, a somewhat disturbing bit of news hit my Inbox. It was the results of a survey we (meaning the Jaguar Expo business unit of Jaguar Media, the latter of which is the publisher of this magazine) had co-sponsored with several other ‘Smart Grid’ event developers. The purpose of the study – carried out by the widely respected McDonnell Group (Atlanta, GA) – was designed to gather some perspective on the scores (and still growing, by the way!) of conferences that at least claim to address Smart Grid topics in one way or another.

The survey went out to a large cross section of utilities of all types, sizes and locations across the United States and Canada. In the end, TMG managed to secure 100 qualified respondents from across the target market set of the roughly 3,000 electric utilities serving North America, which is a very respectable sample for a study of this type. While I cannot even begin to address all of the results of that effort here, there were a few things that I think are worthy of note.

First of all – and probably the most disturbing finding of that research – is that many of the utilities surveyed are planning to further reduce their conference attendance in the coming year. That this comes now is not a big surprise; after all, we’re just coming out of the worst recession in history, and utilities are understandably concerned about costs associated with what they deem – correctly or incorrectly – as ‘non-essential’ expenses. And this comes on the heels of conferences getting demoted years ago from a separate budget to an agglomeration of all things educational.

‘Nothing wrong with that,’ one might say. How could being lumped in an educational activity possibly be a bad thing? Well, of course, it isn’t a bad thing at all – at least not from a philosophical standpoint. But it does have an important financial component that simply can’t be ignored. The downside is that dollars once dedicated exclusively to trade shows, conferences and symposia are now being shared with things like short courses, seminars, webinars and other pure-play educational endeavors. Again, there’s nothing wrong with being cast in an educational light, but the fact remains that the money is being spread over wider set of choices, and that usually means that somebody isn’t getting as much as they wanted or expected or, in some cases, really needed.

What really disturbs me, however, is that I feel like this is going to be an irreversible trend. It reminds me of when a drought in Marin County, California in the 1970s caused restaurants to stop serving water to patrons. After a few months the drought ended, but the moratorium on restaurant water didn’t. (I should point out here that like being associated with education, being a part of conserving natural resources isn’t a bad thing either, since it saves both water and energy in very large amounts; and over time, makes a huge difference!)

If you’re wondering why I’m so concerned about this, I assure you that my role as a conference chairman – though professionally quite gratifying – is really incidental to the larger issue. That larger issue is the growing sentiment that conference participation is a relic whose time ended with the 20th century. My problem with that notion is very simple; we didn’t stop being human when the last century ended, and we didn’t stop needing human interaction when the Internet was invented.

I think most people would agree that communicating has gotten a lot easier in the past decade. Despite all of the email issues we endure, slow Web pages, dropped calls, and more recently, those Tweets of “I had a tuna sandwich for lunch today!” most everyone appreciates the positive side of being able to get news, exchange information, and yes – even pause for a bit of humor now and then – at the speed of light (unless, of course, you’re still using a dial-up connection!). Yet I have to admit that it’s a little disturbing to watch kids text each other when they’re sitting three feet apart on the sofa.

But kidding aside, that’s where my concern really begins. That concern is about our ability to understand that there are many kinds of communicating – it’s not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Instead, some forms of communication fit nicely into a 140-character Tweet, while others may require a more explanatory text message (albeit in some nearly incomprehensible dialect of what you can only loosely call a language), and still others may deserve a full email – the medium that most younger folks have now relegated to the communications medium of ‘old’ people.

Then there’s a whole different class of communicating that is seemingly in danger of extinction. That involves an actual conversation between two or more human beings, ideally in person for the maximum (and most gratifying) experience. And in case you don’t remember the 20th century, this kind of communication between humans has often been observed taking place at trade shows, conferences, symposia and other such gatherings with common interests.

Frankly, I’m distressed by how many people I hear making comments like, “Why should I go to a conference? It’s just a bunch of vendors anyway. And besides, I can get anything I need on the Web for free.” It would take me many more pages to even scratch the surface of all the ways I disagree with those views, but let me sum up with this…

Before you decide whether conferences are a necessary part of your budget, ask yourself a few simple questions like: Which websites let you determine whether the keyboard on your next system has the right tactile feedback? Which ones allow you to meet the people that will be supporting your system? And, which ones will help you resolve those thorny technical problems? The reality is, you can’t do that online! – Ed.