Re: A user/admin asks if COMMON is worth it

[John Jones <chianime@xxxxxxxxx>]

COMMON is very valuable for developers and fairly valuable to system
admins.  That was my take as a sysadmin.

For the first-time attendee it will almost certainly be worthwhile.
Attending in subsequent years, though, will depend on the content that's new
or that relates to your job or personal interests.  As my employer pays for
my ongoing professional education, I always look for information I can apply
at work either right away or within the coming months.

I haven't attended in a few years, but I found that as my i experience level
became more advanced, the technical benefits of conferences like COMMON are
lessened as they tend to be heavily weighted towards entry and intermediate
classes.  You may realize more benefit from the social networking aspect
than from the classes.

The good news, though, is that there is usually some new
technology/feature/function that is interesting or useful enough to make
attendance a rewarding experience.