You can learn a lot about social media without ever leaving your desk. There are a number of great blogs out there that can help you learn. Some companies have webinars that are pretty useful as well. Much of that content is free, even. Every now and then, however, a virtual event comes along that is so good and full of content you don’t have to go hunting for that it’s worth the investment.
It is easy to mistake conferences for excuses to party these days. It seems for every Twitter message or blog post that references learnings gathered in sessions or insights shared by speakers there are a dozen referencing some affiliated social gathering in the evenings. Certainly, I’ve contributed to that imbalance at fun reunions of friends like South by Southwest or Blog World & New Media Expo, my two favorite conferences.