Awhile back--I remember neither when nor where--I read that musicians (the brand-name ones, anyway) are shifting toward concerts rather than music sales as their bread-and-butter. Naturally, the near-frictionless distribution of digitized music--or, more aptly, the willingness of people to steal bytes where they would not steal plastic nor vinyl--is driving that shift. Personally, I've generally been disappointed in concerts--seeing the person in front of me so stoned that she threw up on herself three songs into Pink Floyd's "Division Bell" tour didn't exactly gild the lily--so I'll be spending my music dollar on recordings for the foreseeable future.
But until just a few minutes back, I didn't recognize the same dynamic (apparently) happening in the software/business development space. With the death of publishing being proclaimed both widely and loudly, this parallel shouldn't be suprising. Particularly given that the "digital" folks are probably more apt than most to believe it.
A few times a year, I'll see an intriguing seminar offering, and the skirmish between ambition and frugality begins anew. It happens often enough that I almost have a "dream team" of presenters, for whom (were they all playing the same venue) I'd travel to the moon, if necessary. But that isn't likely, and in any case, I'd be a rank poser among my fellow attendees, and probably just slink away into a corner during the mixers.
And so we come to the eerie sense of time being circular. Back in the days when I was flailing in BASIC programming on TRS-80s and Apple IIs, the only sources of information that could be considered to have "searchability" and a reasonably intuitive user interface were my fellow students and the instructors. In other words, try asking a book "How do I...?" or "Is it possible to...?" or "What does that mean?" Not very effective, is it?
Of course, with the advent of search engines, user support forums (paid and gratis) and such, it's possible to at least tread water in the ever-rising sea of languages and technologies. Which raises the bar for "high-value" informatin for anyone who needs to step beyond chunking out code. Because now you're talking about the relevance of experience. It's the difference between knowing what the buttons do and knowing when it is and is not a good idea to push them.
That kind of "information" is anything cheap. It comes of years of mistake-making and being handed your head even when you did everything "right." And distilling all the war stories into general principles and rules of thumb takes yet more work and a flair for communication. Moreover, it's not what you'd call "reference" information (as opposed to a programming language book that you grab because it's easier than wading through Google results), so you're not likely to buy a copy to keep within arm's length. (Just try bringing a copy of Toxic Co-workers to thumb through during your next meeting.)
In that context, it makes perfect sense to see the "rock stars" of software business development (apparently) putting more of their effort into live performances over diminishing returns on the more "scalable" forms of disseminating their content.
Understand that I have absolutely no "data" beyond my purely subjective perception to support the "trend" that I think I see afoot here. I only know that I see familiar names popping up at software-related gatherings that aren't sponsored by a particular company or aren't glorified trade shows. But if I'm not completely talking out my ear, it's definitely a "back to the future" experience. Now, the presenters who are more conscious of personal brand will allow their spiels to be put online after the fact, which gives them a sort of Web 1.0 patina. But by relying on such alms, you (who did not see the show live) run the great risk that your special question won't be answered, either directly in the presentation, or by pure coincidence during Q&A.
I'm borrowing this adage from either Robert Townsend or Harvey Mackay (I read their best-sellers pretty much back-to-back, so they blur together sometimes): "When the person with money meets the person with experience, the person with the experience walks away with money, and the person with money walks away with the experience." That sort of sums up seminars in the equally proverbial nutshell. But, unlike the tribal elders from the morning of the PC era, at least these folks have many polite ways of telling you that you're an idiot for wanting to try something--and they might actually be right. That alone might be worth the price of admission.
