Typically my issues with attending conferences are two fold. One there is the logistics issues raised by both Rachel and Maaike.

Beyond the child care issue Rachel talks about many of us are stuck in that in-between generation with elderly parents not in the best of health to take care of as well. Both my husband and I are in that situation. Niether of our parents live in the same part of the US we do which means travel to take care of their needs as well.

The second is cost. In additon to conference fees, many developer conferences cost in the four figure range before you add in travel and hotel expenses. Those of us who do not work as salaried employees also face loss of income.

I did attend the Webmaster Jam Session conference in Dallas last week where Andy Budd raised this same topic of the scarcity of women at conferences both during his presentation and in discussions in the halls, etc. I was able to attend that conference because it was semi-local (I’m in Houston) and a reasonable cost. The speakers like Andy and Eric Meyers were ones I wanted to hear. It was interesting to see Rachel’s reference to SXSW since Andy Budd was urging me to attned. While it is another semi-local event for me it is not local enough to make dropping in and out of a 10 day event feasible.

As for speaking on web design or development topics my presentations have been restricted to user groups and other local groups primarily for the reasons Rachel states.

I will admit to having been tempted last year to go to a web accessibility conference held in Scotland in part because it offered child care but my children start school earlier than in the UK so they were back in session. Had it been during our school holidays I would have been very tempted if I could have scheduled additional time as a family vacation.