Loop-de-loop. All it does is confuse me.

Anyone reading the pro-class loop right now? I get it on digest, so there's a lot I miss (and skim through). In case you're missing it, the topic is persistence...basically how persistence pays off in this business. One published author, Jennifer Greene (writes as Alison Hart), and one unpublished author, Ruth Kaufman, are giving lessons and answering questions.

I don't usually comment on these things, but I read whatever piques my curiosity. This one got me:

On the topic of money, Jennifer Greene said:

[Aside from a computer] ...the only other expense I consider absolutely essential is the national conference.

Someone then asked her why the National Conference, and she said:

I think the national tends to be worth every $--although more so both when you're very close to publishing and in the first years after being published.

Well, it's no surprise I'm waffling on the whole national conference thing again this year. First of all, it's in Dallas. Been there, done that. I rarely leave the hotel during the conference, but still, it's Dallas. In July. Late July. Last year in Hotlanta we miraculously missed the heat. I have a feeling Dallas won't be the same. But aside from that, I've done two national conferences. They were good, I networked, I had fun at both, but was it worth all the money I'm forking out? If I was pushing a book, maybe? But unpublished? I'm not so sure. A lot of the workshops were the same from year to year, and though I learned a lot from both experiences, I think, honestly, I learned considerably less the second time. I'm just not sure it's worth the money for air, hotel and registration when I'm not bringing in any money with the sale of a book yet. After Atlanta, I said I wasn't going again until I sold. And I was sticking to that until reading this loop.

So I posed the question again...why, specifically for "almost there" authors? And Ms. Greene responded with:

At the cost of the RWA national conference, I can well understand it could be too expensive for many to attend. (And just getting published hardly means you're making big bucks either.) But...one of the reasons this business is so hard is that we work with people we can't see or form any kind of direction relationship. From editors to agents to publishing professionals, getting a chance to see how these people look, how they talk, if you could imagine working with them, who you think you could click with--etc--are critical things you can do to help yourself. A new writer has little chance to get a lot of one-on-one time at the national conference--I realize--but almost all the publishing professionals who attend are participating in workshops and events, so you can at least hear and see them. I can't prove this (!) but I believe you'll find that 80% of the 'bad agent' stories come from writers who've never met the agent before signing with them. Likewise, many, many of the 'horror editor' stories could probably have been prevented (or made better) if we just could deal with these people face to face. Also, editors--and agents--you hear at conferences come back to haunt you. (So to speak.) The good editors stick around--they may change jobs (five zillion times) but they'll tend to stay in the business. So every contact you make, if you have a goal of being a long term author, really can pay off.

Hmm...Makes sense, but I'm still waffling (call me Alice). The hubby and I talked about it this weekend. He's supportive of whatever I want to do - go if I think it's worth it career-wise, don't if I think it's not. Luckily, we should be getting a pretty nice tax return, so I could set money aside for the trip. Problem is, I have no clue whether it's really worth it or not. Last year I went for two reasons. 1) I won the conference registration in a contest, and 2) I had this strange feeling I was supposed to be there for some reason. I went, I had a great time, I networked my butt off. But 6+ months later, I'm still not sure what that reason was. Nothing significant - that I can see - happened as a result of my being at that conference. Good things have happened for me career-wise since, but I don't think they were directly impacted by my being in Atlanta for the national conference. This year - so far - I don't have that strange feeling pushing me to go. Only this waffling, well, I'm not sure it's worth it debate going on in my head.

Luckily, I have time to decide, but I'm curious. I know some of you like smaller conferences, some of you like the National one. Some of you have been to both or want to go to one or the other. What inspires you to go to a conference? What do you expect to get out of it? And if you're unpublished, how do you justify the expense? And finally, someone please, just tell me what to do!