- By Michele Marques, Lead Information Developer, ITSM

I'm writing this post from Lavacon in New Orleans.It's a really great conference, but this year's conference attendance is significantly lower than 2 years ago. It's no secret that conferences are having lots of problems getting enough participants this year. Since last year's economic meltdown, travel to conferences has been cut from many corporate budgets.

Some conferences offer virtual options. For example, the STC recorded all the sessions from their 2009 conference, and you can buy virtual attendance. You won't get to ask questions.... but you can attend all the sessions, and it doesn't matter if they were concurrent.

BMC is hosting a virtual conference.This conference is a live event, which means that you can ask questions and mingle with other participants. But, because it's virtual, you don't have to travel.