Hi, I am in charge of marketing for a UK based app startup. Hello everyone. At the end of this month we have the Appnation conference in San Francisco. Should I go? It will cost a couple of thousand dollars and will take me out of the office for a week. Will I learn enough and network enough to make this worthwhile? Thank you.
number one, I've never heard of this conference, so I cannot vouch for how useful it is. I am not a barometer for such things however, there's lots of important things that I've no idea about however The point is, do your homework a bit and see what the scale of the conference will be - who's attending, etc. Just by my own cursory look at the website, I am assuming it's not terribly small. As for "is it worth it?" Yeah, traveling costs a good deal of time and money. If a small developer wants to make any waves in the scene, getting out there and making connections in person is crucial. GDC, E3, PAX, etc (for starters) and there's obviously many more cons specifically suited to the burgeoning app marketplace. If you have something to show off, then it's also a good chance to put yourself on the map that way. Just the fact that there's a con in a place like SF which is a huge nerve center for mobile development means that you shouldn't come away empty-handed. But the point stands, you'll definitely need to do a fair bit of research to get the most out of it and make it a good experience. If you can afford it (time & money) I think it is a good idea.
