The Access Filter: How Founders Choose Which Conferences Should Earn Their Budget

Exhibitions are now the single largest channel in exhibitor marketing budgets, pulling in 40.8%, according to research from the Center for Exhibition Industry Research. (Credit: Getty Images)

Fall is conference season, with three of the biggest stops on the U.S. tech calendar all taking place within a few weeks of each other.

VMware Explore just wrapped in Las Vegas, Dreamforce takes over San Francisco in mid-September, and TechCrunch Disrupt follows in October Every one of them asks a founder for the same three things: travel, a ticket or sponsorship fee, and a bet that the room inside is worth the cost.