Not all conferences are good value for money

Our stateroom on board the Emerald Princess during our journey to Alaska 

I was just recently on a cruise ship conference for a week and we had the time of our lives. One of my colleagues in another department also went on a cruise conference for three days in Europe and came back with 'never ever again' written all over her face when we met for coffee to chat and show our pictures to each other. Their 'stateroom' on the ship looked like a small train compartment. They had to make their beds themselves each night and in the morning make the beds into a place to sit. No wonder she wanted to abandon the ship in the first port of call to take a flight back to South Africa. 

Once again, this shows that academics need to do thorough research on both the conferences and the accommodation they will have to face. We once had a conference in the old city of Dubai. There are very nice hotels next to the Dubai creek but the conference hotel was not one of them. After studying photos and reading a few TripAdvisor reviews, we decided that we would indeed attend the conference but booked in a hotel on the creek within walking distance. Talking to the other attendees at the conference, this was the smart thing to do.

Other times, the conference hotel is actually out of reach for our South African pockets but due to the fact that they host the conference, they have special packages for those attending and you are able to stay in a wonderful, expensive hotel for cheaper than what you would pay in the normal three star or four star hotel that we usually do. 

If you cannot do the research on the accommodation yourself (some of my colleagues say they do not have the time to do this), ask someone to help you with that (you travel buddy, wife or children, a agent or a colleague) but do the research on the conferences yourself to avoid disappointment.  Only you really know what you are looking for in a conference. And be adventurist - although it is good to annually go to the same conferences that are focused on your area of specialty, also look for other or new conferences to broaden your perspective and network.