This is something I've been thinking about quite a bit this year. I've reached a point where, considering the personal time and expense that goes into attending a con, I need to understand what it is I hope to get out of the convention, and what conventions, combined with the right actions on my part, will allow me to find the thing I want.

This is even more acute, with careswen going back to graduate school and us needing to reassess our finances and how we spend our vacation time.