I keep reading and hearing about YAPCs that many of the attendees are first time visitors to a Perl conference.
I heared this on last years YAPC::EU and I read about this from the report chromatic wrote about YAPC::NA.
This is great. This means Perl conferences attract many new people.
This also means that many people don't come to a second Perl conference.
(I don't know about YAPC::NA but AFAIK YAPC::EU did not grow in the past few years, if anything it was shrinking in size.)
So why do so many people stop coming to Perl conferences right after they have been to one?
As most business owners can tell you, the best are the returning customers.
Why are the Perl conferences not turning newcommers into returning visitors?
Because most of those newcomers are locals! They have a YAPC near their place of residence and they take the chance to go there!
The following year the conference is in some other place/country, and they don't bother going, or don't have to means to.
It's not like they didn't like the conference, it's just that the year after they don't get the same possibilities they got the year before.
Re:Because...
TeeJay on 2006-07-01T19:00:27
That's definately the case for me - YAPC::EU will be in the UK and therefore assuming I can find the money and register in time I'll be going.
I won't be travelling abroad to the next one tho'.
