Publicizing conference attendance signals access, connections, and insider status.

Evidence

Conferences in the tech scene create new friendships and cement older ones, produce stories to retell later, and foster a sense of intimacy and inclusion among participants. Many of these interactions are public, and conference attendees post pictures from events, tweet about sessions, and write blog posts about their experiences. This conspicuousness marks conference consumption as a way to display one’s access and connections to others, not to mention the status of being invited in the first place. As a graduate student, I experienced waves of jealousy when I saw my Twitter followers talking about Foo Camp and the Microsoft Social Software Symposium, both invite-only events with very limited guest lists. The prevalence of social media made conference attendance obvious and made it clear to anyone paying attention that those attending were part of the “in crowd.” — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 197

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Veblen’s conspicuous consumption — conferencing as a status display of access rather than goods. — connects to: Frequent conference travel signals wealth, flexibility, and tech-elite belonging; Micro-celebrity status at conferences is signaled and reinforced through gossip and panels — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 199; Tech status hierarchies are made visible and reinforced through public digital connections — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update: Celebrity, Publicity,…, 202 (+5 more)
• SEED: Article angle: how live-tweeting transformed professional conferences from learning events into status-signaling spectacles.

Broader Connections

• Micro-celebrity status at conferences is signaled and reinforced through gossip and panels #corroborates (0.85) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 199
• Empty networking reveals outsider status rather than building connections #complicates (0.80) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 203
• Tech status hierarchies are made visible and reinforced through public digital connections #expands (0.75) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 202