13 More Reasons Regator Loves LessConf

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After our first LessConf experience last year, we wrote "29 Reasons Regator Loves LessConf." And to tell the truth, I wondered whether Steven Bristol and Allan Branch could deliver something as useful, inspiring and downright awesome as the first Atlanta-based conference (it was held in Jacksonville before last year). I never expected that they'd blow last year's event out of the water…but they did. Here are 13 *more* reasons why we think this is (bold statement alert) the most inspiring, useful tech conference of the year:

We don't even have to go to another city to attend. It's right in our backyard and is one of the best tech conferences anywhere. If you missed it, that was an error. Don't do it again: You can buy tickets for 2012 right now and they're only $175. I'm not sure where pricing will end up, but if you waited til the last minute this time, tickets were $433. They're worth every penny even at that price so the $175 is like getting a BMW for the price of a Honda Civic. Get on it, whydontcha!It is chock full of people who do stuff. Do-ers, as one speaker put it. Nobody you talk to there is "thinking about starting something" or trying to get money so that they can start something. These people are the real deal–web entrepreneurs who have real products and hard-earned wisdom. Which is why…I've made more actual friends at LessConf than any other tech conference. One of the first things we were told was "If you don't meet great people at LessConf, it's your fault." And that's the truth. DaveLinabury.com quotes LessConf organizer Allan Branch, who says it best: “We wanted to make the conference we’d want to attend. It’s more like a party than a conference in some ways. If you take away two or three things from the speakers, that’s great. But if you leave with 30 new friends, that’s what it’s all about.”Allan and Steve set the tone from the moment it starts: no pretention, no bullshit, no buzzwords. It's a conference with a sense of humor…Which is not to say it's not serious about providing inspiration and useful content. This year's speakers gave straightforward tips, information, and inspiration on everything from customer support, user experience, and design to pricing and, um, strip clubs. Grailbox has a fantastic summary of the panels.The venue had comfy chairs, ample power points, free parking, and solid wi-fi.Free neck and head massages again from Alicia Durrence and her magic hands were harder to get to this year because the sessions were so interesting and in between them…There were musical interludes by the talented and charming Allison Weiss and Julia Nunes, who also played one of the afterparties.Sweet, free LessConf shirts for all, plus an awesome swag bag with stickers, PopRocks, animal crackers, and other fun stuffWedgies. On stage. For prizes.Fantastic after-parties at The Loft (thanks, MailChimp) and the Artmore (thanks, We Are Titans) where we had plenty of time to meet each other, have some drinks, and listen to some great music.Free usability testing from usertesting.comIncredible moments: listening to an attendee start the conference with the customary whale joke, standing in the sun eating ice cream while the ice cream truck's music wafted over us, watching Steve try to sit on stage in his kilt, cracking open a fortune cookie to find custom LessConf messages.

Thanks for the encouragement, advice, and inspiration. We can't wait 'til next year!

(Owl photo by Kendrick Disch)