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On Fri, May 21, 2004 at 10:04:53AM -0500, Mike Schwartz-PC Support & Services, the prominent pundit,
witicized:
> life, and ran into the same problem.  Managers just don't understand that,
> due to the rapidly changing technology, computer people have much more
> urgent training and convention attendance needs than most of the other
> people within the company.

They're called -books-.  :)

Actually, I've only bothered with about 6-10 books.  I defer mostly to
online docs as more convenient more oft than not.

I've never understood this fascination-bordering-on-obsession with
conferences, meetings, seminars, etc., when a good old piece of plain old
documentation will do the job.

Then again, I don't do the travel gig, and I don't like to mix vacation
and business -at all-.  Most people -appear- to like to write off things
like conferences on their taxes--at least the self-employed of the lot.
Perfectly acceptable as a deduction, but the impression (perhaps erroneous)
that I've gotten is that whether self-employed or not, many treat it more
like a holiday with the learning learning coming "by the way".  And I speak
not necessarily of any courses in this community in specific--I've noticed
the same in many areas, including linux.

I really think that the same learning could be accomplished in less time
with POD as opposed to much slower and more inefficient verbal discourse.
One can read far faster than someone can talk.  One also retains the
material for revision.  Retention is quite often superior for the writtn
word compared to spoken iteration.  Docs have far more upsides, IMHO. 

If it's a meeting for the social experience, then by all means, it's
preferable to have a conference.  If one wants the fastest uptake curve
possible with the least waste and far less expense, documentation is the
way to go.  Perhaps managers simply see the truth behind the comparison,
and this is why they won't spring for it so readily.

I would hardly qualify most conferences, meetings, etc., as "necessary",
for exactly these reasons.  And I'm nowhere near a management type.  It's
just so self-evident to me.

No offense to anyone that actually does the conference thing, of course.
Been to one myself, a long time ago.  *yawn*  Got more out of the docs upon
my return than I did out of the trip, technically speaking.  The biggest
part of what I gained on the trip was a friend--but that wasn't what I was
there to do.

My $0.02, YMMV, and other fine cliches.

mark->
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