Editor's Note: In the first part of this two-part article, Andrew Sobel looks at what to consider before paying to attend a conference. Read part two of this two-part article.

Is it useful to attend or speak at conferences? Can you really meet anyone of significance at them? Should going to conferences be part of your brand-building or relationship-building plan?

I am occasionally asked about the value of conferences, and my own clients have had mixed results from them – some good, some bad.

"They don't work for me," a partner at a leading professional services firm commented to me recently, adding, "I went to one last year and found myself presenting to a group of my competitors from other firms. It was a waste of time."

We can all probably remember a bad conference experience. Mine occurred nearly 20 year ago when I agreed to go to a financial services conference to present my firm's latest research on retail banking.

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