Drone conferences are popping up everywhere these days—not a week goes by in which I don’t see an announcement for a new drone / UAS / UAV expo or conference. By any measure, their promotional efforts are quite effective – perhaps not factual, but still effective. With claims of “the largest gathering ever” and “the defining event,” one can only be deft not to attend or exhibit. Any why not? Drones and drone technology are exciting. Given that we are still in the ‘inflated expectation phase’ of the hype cycle for drones, it’s anybody’s guess which producers will shake out or when we will reach the slope of enlightenment. So, for both attendee and vendor / exhibitor, it seems you must attend them all or get left in the dust. But if you’re like me, you don’t have unlimited time or resources to attend all, so you’ve got to guess which ones to attend. In this post, I’ll give you five criteria to apply so your guesses give you a conference experience that adds value rather than just hype.