# All conferenced out

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2006/06/06/all-conferenced-out/
- Published: 2006-06-06T08:46:12+01:00
- Author: Kevin Kibble

**So was it worth going to the AFP Conference then?**

Well! When you consider that the full four-day conference delegate fee and the airfare
to Atlanta was less that the fee for the two-day Charity Summit (so called) then
it probably was, if only because I came away with a couple of good insights and 
one good idea. Our American hosts were, of course, charming and hospitable, but 
the lack of a real evening ‘centre’ to the event, limits the opportunities for networking–
except for the Brits!

I think Traci from Texas and Jodi from Michigan were vaguely amused in sharing their
table in the Omni Hotel bar area with Sean Triner, Pareto – almost an Aussie, bonny
Gordon Michie, FIL – Fife Scotland, Andrew PPS Watt – our man inside the AFP, the
very important Tony Elischer, Think CS and your humble blogger. Most of our cutting
edge debate needed translating and even then I’m not sure it made too much sense.
But hey we put the sector to rights!

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The serious side to all this is how do you decide which conferences to attend? It
seems beyond the wit of organisers to put on a conference that really addresses 
the needs of senior or experienced fundraisers without reverting to the old standby
of discussion panels. Is it a lack of research? Is there nothing senior fundraisers
are really interested in? Or is it that people who have no real understanding of
fundraising see conferences purely as a means of making money without addressing
the need for outcomes.

So will I go back to the **AFP** next year? Maybe the year after (San Diego sounds
good). **Convention**? Well, as a supplier you have to really. **IFC Holland**? 
Almost certainly. And the one I really don’t want to miss? **IoF Scotland**.