It really depends on your expectations and what you want to achieve at the conference. You could have several motivations like presenting something because you have promised it in a proposal, meeting old friends and catching up with them, engaging stakeholders that you could not approach in a different situation, meeting the great names in your field.

If you make sure that the conference will be able to provide you with what you expect, then they are a good thing - if not, they might be a waste of money and time.

One must be very selective to choose conferences that there will be both learning and sharing of technology and ideas. Atendees must work to get the most out by attending pertinent presentations, interacting with topical researchers, asking questions and when possible discussing with others or delivery of presentations of their meaningful works. More opportunities for low cost, online interactions and webinars in todays world. My favorite conference was the International Erosion Control Association. Their annual conference is relatively low cost, includes various profssional training, certifications, and sharing of technical papers, and time for professional vendors sharing equipment types, supplies useful for erosion and sediment control. It is important to find a good example as opportunity and funds are typically limited. http://www.ieca.org/IECA/IECA_Events/2019_Annual_Conference.aspx

It really depends on your expectations and what you want to achieve at the conference. You could have several motivations like presenting something because you have promised it in a proposal, meeting old friends and catching up with them, engaging stakeholders that you could not approach in a different situation, meeting the great names in your field.

If you make sure that the conference will be able to provide you with what you expect, then they are a good thing - if not, they might be a waste of money and time.

That is very true colleagues the main aims for conferences are to follow the new knowledge and technologies in your field in a part. In another part, its nice to meet old friends and lecturers taught you sometimes over your study.

However, most conferences are overpriced and you have to drop thousands of dollars for no benefits.

In addition, they always try to repeat the previous subjects and all are repetitive.

Furthermore, you will face plenty of weak presentations and speakers.

In conclusion, you at the end find out its not worth to attend and spending all these expenses and you might find what you want at the local specific meetings.

I agree with William Hansen and Benni.

The objective of conference should be get achieved after the program or in due course of time.

Of conferences, give platform for interaction within researchers, participants, experts. For new participants it may be a good experience initially.

Only appropriate conference that will find useful, suitable as per topic of interest ,should be attended otherwise it is wastage of time and money .

Interesting answer ishwar, thanks.

I agree with Dr. William F. Hansen and Dr. Benni Thiebes viewpoints.

There are some really prestigious conferences and some really bad journals. Good conferences provide opportunities to meet and explore collaborations with other scholars. In my filed, ASCE holds some really great conferences.

Great thanks mohammed and amir.

I agree with my great colleagues ' views. wonderful comments

Usehful for young scientists to get the lay of the research land they will be trodding through for their careers in scientific research in many of its aspects.

I agree with all my colleagues' answers.

Many thanks for all coleagues for these notes

conferences are an opportunity to meet colleagues and to update information in the area of interest, any conference that miss these things is of no benefit.

I fully support your answer azawi.

Alright, surely there are good and bad conferences.

No waste of fund in attending conferences/workshops either local or international. However, hundreds of conferences will not do good if experience gained in attending are not put to use or your impact as attendee does not felt by your colleagues. Application of such will be encouraging to your sponsors and colleagues and even to the organizers,

I thank you Kenneth M Towe,Segun Michael Abegunde for showing your subjective opinion.

I don't think so. Most conferences are for academic growth and interaction with researchers

Good sound from Felix Nwafor, thank you.

I think most of the academic conferences are organized with the specific objective of dissemination of knowledge (may be some organized with the objective of business). Conference matters for a scientist/researcher.

A conference is not just an avenue for a scientist to present their research to the wider community, but it can be an important venue for brainstorming, networking and making vital connections that can lead to new initiatives, papers and funding, in a way that virtual, online meetings cannot. This is why conferences matter.

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2017.00257/full

Vital answer by Asit. Thanks

No, no, no...as long as they do the business of conferencing, presenting and sharing ideas; as long as the presentations address the themes and sub themes, conferences would always be just great.

Good to know your opinion adewale.

Conferences are generally platforms for academic and research training and experience. Of course, there are always counterfeits of everything, including conferences. All we need to do is to select the good conferences whose focus is not on monetary gains but rather on academic grooming and research enhancement.

Thank you Adom for objective answers

Conferences are academic exercises that should not be neglected as there's always something new to learn (depending on the approach of the attendee) no matter how minute the learning experience would seem.

Thank you Edwin.

Good view from paul

Thanks

My view is that from a conference we can get new knowledge as well as it provide an opportunity to interact with the experts in a particular field.

Before you go to a conference better to get to know who are the guest speakers and is it relevant to your field.

this is very objective answer Anuradha, we need to know who is the speaker before deciding a registration.

Dear Salwan Al-Maliki, most importantly we can share our ideas in conference, beside that networking also matters for academicians.

It has definitely become a market of ideas and payments, just like the publishing sector. We have to build our own value preferences and select carefully; in principle, I cannot detect a waste of resources. Bringing people together and sharing scientific ideas is an important gateway for advancing research. So, I am in line with Anuradha Iddagoda .

Generally speaking, conferences are assemblies of the learned people who argue about particular topics aiming to highlight the latest developments of the field to which they belong. By attending conferences where interesting topics about various realities of life are prioritized themes, scholars can get exposed to new information and better ways of conducting research. However, we have to be selective in attending conferences because researchers and practitioners hope to improve their insights through continuous professional and skill development- objectives that can only be achieved by attending high quality conferences.

The basic purpose of a conference is to interact with so many learned colleagues and to discuss a particular topic in detail. If conference is being taken in positive sense then it can significantly change the research scenario. But these days every activity is becoming a business and business in terms of money.

Thanks to all coleagues for healthy thoughts.

The depending on the individual expectations.we have to do the cost benefits analysis on the conference bssed on the researchers point view.

This depends upon Discipline, funding Agency, Topic, Directors academic background and capability, Institution environment and participants involvement and interest.

As colleagues have confirmed we have to evalute topics well before we taking a step forword to ensure a true benefits.

I share similar opinion as Dr. Arben J Salihu

However, I enjoy conferences and socializing with colleagues.

Thanks for the question raised by Mr. Salwan Al-Maliki,

In fact, I fell in favor of internationally academical conferences.

If conferences were free of expenses, everyone would be there.

100% true with respect to ........can not write the name of country and state.....

Yes. For some conferences, this is true.

With the best wishes

Mr Rezaei Ahvanooei.

Thank you very much colleagues for micro-informative answers.

We have to check what topics are and how closely to our field before registration to ensure true benefits.

Conference on a particular area of subject is quite interesting and knowledge sharing platform. We learn new ideas and thoughts by interactions with so many intellectual people.

Not for all conferences but for some i agree.

Thanks Zaman and Thakur for adding answers.

There are useful and wasteful conferences. You can not generalize the quality of conferences. It is business for some and service (disseminating and sharing of knowledge) for some. There are also different objectives as indicated by Dr. Benni, while one attends the conferences. Any way it is a good question.

Thank you very much Prasad for showing your logical view.

The task of the conferences is to organize the communication of scientists and the exchange of knowledge. Sometimes this is successful, sometimes it does not give quick results. Much depends on the organizers and the composition of scientists. For discussion it is necessary to invite scientists with opposing views on solving a scientific problem. Usually breakthrough solutions appear on the fields of the conference, when scientists communicate in an informal setting.

I agree with you Fisenko, all depends on the coordinator and how well prepared beforehand. That's a good point of you.

Yes. For some conferences, this is true.

With the best wishes

Mr Rezaei Ahvanooei.

Its quite True Razies, thanks.

The prepared and coordinated conferences will reflect an excellent impression and higher sense of responsibility leading to a dense participation whenever it will be held.

I think if it is widely general and includes so many scopes then the benefits will be limited.

It depends. The same conference may be much beneficial to some and may not be to others. Therefore, it should be selective as required.

indeed, most conferences have become money making ventures. where ethical considerations are no longer considered. some conference managers aims more on profits realizable from conferees, to the extent that what ever one submits or presents is accepted provided that one pays. But truly, conferences are genuine ground for academic interaction, avenue for new idea and technique dissemination outside classroom works, network building and professional socialization. Unfortunately, a very few gave me such out of the ones I have attended.I believe ethical considerations should be spelt more on this to streamline the right actions

Countless thanks to you and I appreciated your answers.

Do you mean Today's money making conferences Many of these conferences like fake scientific magazines they accept any presents only pay money.

Yes. For some conferences, this is true.

With the best wishes

Mr Rezaei Ahvanooei...

yes

I agree with Dr. Shaheen, that like some conferences there are also some journals where prime objective is to "make" money, ignoring the quality of scientific content to great extent.

No way. Conference time is time well invested and spent

The Great Benefits of Attending Academic Conferences

Why do academics go to conferences? What are the benefits .........................?

https://www.uaces.org/resources/the-great-benefits-of-attending-academic-conferences

Of course, it depends on the conference you want to attend and what your goal for attendance. Who looking for knowledge will find such conferences.

It depends on the conference , but For some conferences, this is true ...

Limitless thank to all of you for wonderful anwsers.

Thanks Dr. Asit for providing a very interesting & educative article which will be quite useful to the young researchers. I liked the concluding statement "The benefits are definitely bigger than the costs if you know how to get the most out of every conference".

Yes, Dr. N B Narasimha Prasad - the concluding remark "The benefits are definitely bigger than the costs if you know how to get the most out of every conference" tells about the benefits of attending conference in one sentence. I totally agree with this statement. Thanks and regards

I don't think so may be a few will fall in to that category

but most conferences are like a common platform for new research and ideas for the development of science and society.

Thank you very much coleagues for nice answers

Thank you for good question

Some conferences are useful for exchanging views, gaining new information and putting good ideas

With appreciation...

Many thanks for your important notes coleagues.

Great contributions!

Sincere thank for you ademolwa .

Dear Salwan Al-Maliki

Yes i do.

Most of conferences are in general a waste of time, money and productive man hours. Most are organised by professional conference organizers whose main purpose is profit making.

I appreciate you mohammed for nice answer

not always, although, the researchers paid a lot of money , but they gain experience and they have good chance for meeting others and discussing technical issues, and may have good chance to have fund for thier research.

I dont think so

Cuz every Scientific work is depends on the important of its findings

I am pleased of your scientific contributions. Thanks to all.

Most academic conferences, like so many academic institutions of higher education have become "profit driven." Just as some universities will accept any and all applicants and collect the tuition fees, some conferences will accept any abstract. All they're interested in is the registration fee. Someone needs to compile a list of such predatory conferences and predatory universities.

That's an interesting question that you posed. I agree with Sharaf Rehman that if conferences are about making money, this is a reflection of some of the trends that are taking place in academia globally. However, I also think what Benni Thiebes says is important - you need to think about your own reasons for going to confs and try and benefit from them regardless of their own motives. Confs are a good place to disseminate your work, interact with others about it and find out what other people are doing.

Not only the conferences, but there is also a list of journals who ask for a significant amount of money to publish your articles. They claim that their journals are peer-reviewed, but they never send the papers to the reviewer, nor they have the relevant reviewers to make some rational comment or suggestions on the research. A few weeks back, I encountered a journal which asked me for two thousand and five hundred euro for publishing my article. After I refused, they started insisting for bargaining such as 'how much could you pay' etc.

I've had a similar experience as Profesor Musa Khan. I shut them up by asking them how much they'll pay me for publishing my work? That ended the conversation in a hurry. My suggestion is to seek out conferences that are arranged by the universities and their departments and seek out journals produced by the universities. Their goal is not profit but to attract international scholars and research of substance. Some of the universities in eastern Europe have some highly respected and quality journals - publications that value and welcome quality research.

Thanks to all of you for such valuable information

Not always.

not all but some of them as well as there are Predatory Publishers , you can know more about it form the following link:

https://predatoryjournals.com/publishers

Conferences are always adding value to the area and the conference field.

Unfortunately "science" - as far as the publications and conferences are concerned - with rare exceptions became the part of business. Too big conferences are good almost for nothing, with 5-6 or more parallel section syou cannot meet people, and, at best, if you are not a panel speaker, you will have 10 attentdants maximum. In spite of these disadvantages you may meet interesting people and establish useful contatcs. Everything depends on whether you finance it yourselt or you have an institution behind you to pay the costs. On private basis it is definitely too expensive.