Why do they have conferences?

I am sure this is a question which at one time or another has boggled your mind.

It usually happens after you have come back from a gloriously luxurious one, as is the case with me. Well "gloriously luxurious" is not quite right, but then you have to help me with a better choice of words. I will paint a picture for you. The group was 35 in number. We came from all around the world (avg. travel 2500 USD per person). We stayed in "The Address" Dubai Marina for five nights (Avg room cost 250 USD per person per night), had gala lunches and dinners (avg cost 60 USD per person per meal), went and did a cruise and of course the desert Safari (another 100 USD per person). That's about 150,000 USD.

And the question begs to be answered...WHY?.. why spend so much for five days...what could we have possibly achieved to cover for such a huge expense...

One of my bosses once told me "Conferences represent the rare occasions when your company pays you to drink and think" I am not sure about the thinking but there definitely was a lot of drinking ;).

As is the case with most of such philosophical questions, the answer lies in the negative. The risk of not calling us all together and aligning with whatever it is they wanted to align, far outweighs the cost incurred. Lost you? Think about it....