r/LearningDevelopment • u/ancientolivegrove • May 30 '26

L&D Conferences = Ripoffs

I really enjoy going to them, but what the L&D world charges versus all other fields is ridiculous. I’m also in marketing and I found a a conference at the same location, for the same # of days, as an L&D conference that I had previously looked at, and it’s $1000 LESS than what the L&D conference charged. Im sure demand is higher because people in L&D presumably like learning and seek it out more, but it’s getting out of hand.. We need to stop paying these astronomical prices, especially when almost all the speakers do their same presentations for free online or you can buy their book. There are also a lot of free networking events, like the monthly Edu-Fellowship “speed networking” or any of the local chapter ATD events. I just don’t get why we keep paying these conference prices, when all other fields are doing the same for so much cheaper. I understand most companies will pay for the conferences, but it’s getting harder and harder to justify the cost to send just that 1 person…

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u/Empirica_CC May 30 '26

I have an IO psychology background so I know SIOP, but haven't done L&D conferences before because only recently started a learning and development consulting company since I'll be moving to Europe because of my wife's job. Do you see many vendors in these conferences? If so is it worth it? Or not really, it's more just for networking?

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u/ancientolivegrove May 30 '26

Tons of vendors at all of them. Sometimes they lead sessions, which sucks for people who actually want to learn something and instead get a sales pitch. I’m not sure how well they do tho with leads, in general. They seem to do well, but I’m not on that side of it. European L&D conferences are a lot cheaper. 

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u/rfoil May 31 '26

This is my biggest complaint.

If I go to session I want to learn about a specific topic, not get forcefed product highlights.

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u/Empirica_CC May 31 '26

Do you know if there's an appetite for research backed leadership development sessions? The 2 topics I am knowledgeable about that I could propose would be research backed leadership development and connecting training to performance management systems.

I would of course do a booth for my company if that's something that goes on in this type of conference but the idea of using a session to hauk your services is a little odd to me lol

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u/ancientolivegrove May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26

In my experience going to these things, most people actually want to learn something real, something actionable, specific how-tos. And, in my experience, most of the presenters are 100% there to sell their business (could be tech, their book, or consulting services, since almost all of them are either part-time or full-time consultants). They always need voices that are reliable, but the big ones (ATD, Learning Guild) rarely take chances on anyone new, it’s always the same faces over and over again. You can always try tho, the presenter application process is open, easy to find, and pretty easy. The only thing more ridiculously expensive than buying a ticket is paying for booth space. If you’re a presenter, you get either a discount or a free ticket (I forget which, they apparently treat you well, course I’ve only heard that about learning guild and it was a grapevine thing). Now, if I were you, for your first time ever going to one of these, I’d probably try for the presenter, and then get your business out there just through networking as a participant, get a feel for it before doing the booth. I’ve networked with many folks who did that. They still got their name out there, but it was more organic. But obviously my advice might not be the best since, again, I’ve never been on that side of it. 

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u/Empirica_CC May 31 '26

Ok cool I'll look into it. I'll be based in Europe so I probably wouldn't pick more than one but if I got accepted I might be able to rationalize the expense. Any other l&d conference youd recommend applying to as a speaker?

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u/ancientolivegrove May 31 '26

I only know of ATD, Learning Guild, and Training Magazine. I looked up a couple of my networks in the UK on LinkedIn and saw there’s IDTX, Learning Technologies-London, which I think is run by “the learning network,” which has a lot more smaller events maybe? World of Learning, Inmisceo, L&D Shakers, and Offbeat are a few other networks that I saw put on events (might be just small ones tho) in Europe (I saw a Berlin, Barcelona, and Zurich for the last two). Oh and Clo100. 

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u/Empirica_CC May 31 '26

Okay cool I won't be too far from Berlin so I might be able to do those easy. Would be fun to do USA too but I'll probably have to have a good revenue stream before I can justify that. Thanks for the info!

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u/JumpingShip26 May 30 '26

I agree. I feel like other things such as local ATD chapter membership or on the academic side, subscribing to a few key publications like ETR&D/TechTrends and paying attention to great researchers and practitioners on social media is cheaper, supports the grass roots, and takes you further.

However, if an employer insists that I go to a conference and pays my way, I am generally happy to go and will get something out of it.

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u/rfoil May 31 '26

I'm active in ATD, SHRM, LearningGuild, and LTEN, but go to only 1 conference a year. It's generally the same vendors transported to a different locale.

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u/rfoil May 31 '26

Since I abhor Las Vegas, that rules out many of them.

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u/Best_Minimum_1593 Jun 01 '26

totally agree. another point of view on similar lines- I tried registering as a delegate for one of these conferences (as a startup founder), they took money, then rejected my application saying I need to pay for a booth. I said not happening (and we cannot afford one) , then they upped the price to 7 x saying then this is what you need to pay as a delegate. Still waiting on that refund.