
Ask HN: Would you attend a conference as a robot? - rrus
There&#x27;s a conference in your field of work halfway across the country. You&#x27;d really like to go, check out the talks and network with a few people. But the plane ticket will be $500, you&#x27;ll need to pay for hotels for 3 days, as well as eating out since you won&#x27;t be cooking. Plus your boss isn&#x27;t so sure about giving you a week off.<p>But there&#x27;s another option. The conference is giving you the option to log into a &quot;telepresence robot&quot; which has two way video&#x2F;audio and can be driven around the conference. You can basically attend the conference from your laptop at a fixed rate of  $X&#x2F;hr.<p>Example robots:<p>http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.slate.com&#x2F;content&#x2F;dam&#x2F;slate&#x2F;articles&#x2F;technology&#x2F;technology&#x2F;2014&#x2F;05&#x2F;140501_TECH_TelepresenceRobot_Prod.jpg.CROP.promovar-medium2.jpg<p>http:&#x2F;&#x2F;spectrum.ieee.org&#x2F;image&#x2F;1589146<p>What do you think, would this be a viable option for you to attend a conference? Why or why not? Are there any particular robot features you&#x27;d want?
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nixy
> There's a conference in your field of work halfway across the country. You'd
> really like to go, check out the talks and network with a few people. But
> the plane ticket will be $500, you'll need to pay for hotels for 3 days, as
> well as eating out since you won't be cooking. Plus your boss isn't so sure
> about giving you a week off.

If there is a conference in my field and my boss can't plunk down $1000 for me
to go, I'd probably pay out of my own pocket to go—and then try to find a new
boss at the conference.

Besides, if I can't get a few days off for the conference I'll not be able to
attend as a robot either, would I?

