The other piece to that is in most cases these events are the only time some groups of friends or strong acquaintances have the opportunity to hang out and bond face to face. confer. I would argue that is human nature to want to celebrate with friends who you only see on rare occasion and drinking tends to be the most easily and socially acceptable way of doing so. In many cases it is at these events that many times acquaintances become stronger relationships through just hanging out as people post conference.
Almost exactly what I was going to say. I have a team of employees that work in San Francisco. I work from home in Annapolis, MD, on the opposite side of the country.
I don't see them often enough and while I certainly love my co-workers, I try to pack as much face time in whenever I'm on their side of the country as I'm able.
If I'm there for a conference, it's because I want to learn, or be enriched by whatever the conference is offering -- but I can bet that for certain I'll be hanging out late with the peeps I don't get to see enough as well.
