Nowadays there are all kinds of great events one can attend to get the latest and greatest information about the web world. The mackdaddy is South by Southwest Interactive followed by numerous conferences about technology, start-ups, blogging, video, UX, you name it. It would be great to attend these, but they are expensive and take time. However, one of the best things about the web is how self serving it is.  Go Geeks! You can obtain a lot of knowledge shared at these events by using online resources.

A few weeks ago I pulled up a Twitter visualization site for the An Event Apart Chicago Conference and was able to witness, in real-time, people’s tweets about the presentations. It was amazing how much I was able to comprehend by simply doing this. People were tweeting because they knew people were monitoring the #aea hashtag. A lot of presenters post their presentations on SlideShare so you can see them. I was just watching videos recorded at the Web 2.0 Expo a week ago that were good quality and listened to podcasts from that event as well. Journalists at these events often do interviews and they always post them online. Facebook groups are also a good way to get information.

If you’re interested in attending a conference, but can’t. Look on their web site. There are often sites listed that will be broadcasting from the event and sharing the material. You can also check out the presenter’s web sites. They often publish their talks when they have time afterwards.

The information is out there if you look. Take part in any way can. It’s never been easier.