But you emphatically said that you do not go to conferences to socialise. That&#x27;s the most important part of a conference.  I daresay, it&#x27;s really the ultimate goal. Otherwise, we could just all post screencasts online instead of having a conference. That would be a lot cheaper.<p>Emphatically not wanting to socialise sounds exactly like you think socialising is not important. A less emphatic &quot;no&quot; might still make it sound like you think it has some importance.<p>And two weeks a year is precious little time, if you compare it with having lunch with your coworkers every day.