UX Conferences vs bar camps-what’s the difference?
As I’m looking to expand my network and knowledge within the field of UX and design, I’m starting to attend more conferences and events. Conferences have been growing year on year, particularly within the field of UX. It is platform for speakers from all walks of life to present their findings within their UX roles, providing a board of influence towards attendees.
However, there was a shock to say some cost over £500! Doing this multiple times a year can cost thousands of pounds, which in today’s market is an unviable option. Put in travel costs if in person, and it would cost about the same as a holiday!
Nevertheless, since some conferences have gone either a hybrid or online based due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the cost of doing so has reduced dramatically, which means saving time and money.
From this, I wanted to break down within this article my findings of conferences vs bar camps, as well as giving over some example events that won’t cost the earth to attend yet provide value to your development.
Conferences
Conferences are a gathering of either small or large amounts of people coming together, with a shared interest (like UX as an example). They are normally organised into talks, ranging from 30–60 minutes, discussing on either trends or UX experiments that happen within organisations. It’s a great opportunity to keep up to date with learnings, as well as increasing your network in this field.
Pros of going to a conference:
· They have a set agenda prior to the event, so you can know which talks you would like to attend.
· If hybrid or online, there is no travel costs and able to watch these on demand.
· A chance to advance with future trends and areas for development.
· Great for networking, both in-person and online.
Cons of going to a conference:
· They can be incredibly expensive. As explained previously, some of the major conferences cost over £500 per attendee (£150 for online attendance).
· Because they are set talks, they may not be relatable to your situation.
· Some learning might be too advanced for the situation you’re in, causing some imposter syndrome symptoms.
Bar camps
Bar camps (or sometimes just abbreviated as camps), on the other hand, have no specific agenda, but rather it is collection of people with similar job roles and problems they are looking to be collectively worked on. For example, I went to the Product Camp event in Berlin in August 2022 and it was interesting to see the amount of varied topics and issues that were worked on. I found camps great for exposing vulnerability and highlighting blockers within people’s working life. It made it feel more human and normalising its ok not to know everything.
Some of the subjects talked and discussed included:
· Stakeholder management and best practices
· Entrepreneurship and how to develop this within your career
Pros of going to a Bar camp:
· They’re relatively inexpensive. When I went to Product Camp, it was approximately £40, which was amazing value for the content and expanding my international network.
· You get to discuss blockers within your work with others who have been in a similar situation. It’s a safe environment to connect problem solvers together.
· Great for networking and feel like you’re on a level playing field with all attendees.
Cons of going to a Bar camp:
· There is no set agenda when attending, so can be a gamble of the subject areas being presented and worked upon.
· These mostly require attendance in person, which can add additional costs to your tickets.
· It’s quite an interactive day, particularly when going out to breakout rooms for the different topics, so will require speaking to large groups people.
From this discussion, here are a list of conferences and bar camps I recommend attending for 2023. I’ve made sure these events costs no more than £150 for attending; some are even free to event. Please note I have put an international spin on the events to provide a wider scope of what is available:
Conferences:
· Design Value Conference (Online)
· Ace
· UX Sofia
I would also advise signing up to UX/ product tool-based companies (like Content Square, Adobe, Maze and Figma), as they also have some amazing online and in-person events, normally free to attend.
Bar camps:
· UX Camp
My advice from this blog post: have a mixture of attending both camps and conferences, utilising trends and new areas of learnings in conferences, whilst attending bar camps to help level out any blockers within your work.
If you’re interested in receiving mentorship from me, whether it’s for a one-off call or for short-term or long-term membership in UX Design, feel free to book a 30-minute consultation with me through my Calendly link. I look forward to helping you grow in your UX Design career!
