Having recently attended my first conference, I can say that I gained a LOT more tacit knowledge than explicit knowledge. I got a feel for the types of people doing all the work behind the scenes to make things actually happen, and a generally much broader perspective.
Reading and researching independently and interacting with others with a similarly narrow focus doesn’t lend itself to comprehensive understandings. I try very hard to always get a feel for the big picture before diving into specifics, but individuals or small groups can only ever develop a few ways of looking at things and attacking problems.
In short, you learn the answers to all sorts of questions that you never even thought to wonder about. You can’t google unknown unknowns.
Having recently attended my first conference, I can say that I gained a LOT more tacit knowledge than explicit knowledge. I got a feel for the types of people doing all the work behind the scenes to make things actually happen, and a generally much broader perspective.
Reading and researching independently and interacting with others with a similarly narrow focus doesn’t lend itself to comprehensive understandings. I try very hard to always get a feel for the big picture before diving into specifics, but individuals or small groups can only ever develop a few ways of looking at things and attacking problems.
In short, you learn the answers to all sorts of questions that you never even thought to wonder about. You can’t google unknown unknowns.