My wife and I have attended technology conferences for years mostly paying for our own way. We made this commitment because of our professional interests.
Cindy called my attention to the ISTE registration fees for 2018. I estimate that with the cost of transportation and housing, the cost for this conference would be far over $1000. This would be without extra fees for extended preconference training sessions. I was unaware of what the fees were so I did a search. Try it yourself. My search also came up with multiple “donors choose” pleas related to this cost. I have not taken the time to create a cost comparison of various conference options. This is not the point I am trying to make.
I have no idea of how these organizations spend their money. Big conferences obviously cost a lot of money – the venue, the speakers, full-time staff. Big conferences also bring in a lot of money.
I think schools do need to spend money on professional development and technology has to be part of this. I think it is appropriate, however, to consider the cost-effectiveness of different approaches. The density of a four-day experience produces the same problems as the concerns about school-based one-day efforts with paid presenters to a much larger degree.
The cost creates another problem. With high costs come decisions that must be made about who can go and who cannot become more difficult.
There must be ways to make learning experiences for educators more cost-effective.