There are a variety of ways to gauge the health of the high-tech sector: industry sales, the thickness of Wired magazine, the number of launch parties with open bars, etc. Another tool is looking at the number of conferences. After the dot-com and telecom booms went bust a few years ago, corporate travel nearly disappeared and the conference business struggled. In fact, the mother of all trade shows, Comdex, bit the dust because of declining attendance. Today, with the high-tech industry bouncing back, the conference industry is thriving again. This week alone, there's VON Canada in Toronto, F2C: Freedom to Connect in Washington (both of them involving Jeff Pulver) and CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas. This resurgence in conferences - complete with high-profile, keynotes, $1000 to $2000 registration fees, etc. - is interesting given the whole unconference movement, which are low-cost or free affairs organized by participants rather than a single organizer such as Pulver. The conference vs. unconference debate makes for lively discussions but they are different animals than happily co-exist with each other. While there are obviously big differences, the common denominator is people attend to talk and engage with other people with common interests. This is increasingly important at a time when e-mail, Webcasts, cell phones and Web-based presentations such as Webex makes it easy to do things virtually. Sure, there is a the convenience factor but there is nothing like putting a face to a name or having a great conversation with someone during a panel or over coffee. That said, conference organizers need to be careful about balancing their business goals with putting on a good show with solid content. A $1,500 conference fees quickly turns into a $3000 price-tage after flights, hotel, etc. are included. If something costs that much, it better have bang for the buck.