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The way I saw, it was a win-win proposition. I was quite privileged to be invited to speak at several conferences, when I worked in Dubai, and the invitations took me from our locale and nearby Abu Dhabi, to all around the Middle East (Gulf region), and to Singapore and Cairo.
I came to learn about the business model behind the invitations: The conference organizers thought that by having me on board, they could persuade others in the company I worked for to register. My entry was at no charge. There were a handful of organizers who were in regular contact with me, and for the first several engagements, there was virtually no pressure to get my colleagues to join up.
But that changed in major ways: One salesman contacted me way to frequently, and tried to strong arm me into enlisting my colleagues directly. Another organizer invited me, but then expected me to cover travel costs. I confronted that: I offered my expertise for free, in exchange for (a) the privilege to speak to a large audience and (b) the opportunity to give back to fellow professionals. When I agreed to cover these costs, but then had to charge them for my expertise, this one organizer relented.
This was just one part of the business model. Another part was to persuade firms and individuals to pony up cash for that speaking privilege. Which was fine, really. But quite a few of these speakers were not very good, and the majority of them were mediocre at best. They either weren't qualified to speak, to begin with, or weren't all the motivated to research and prepare for their talk.
I took all of this in stride. Business models are an understandable necessity for making money and earning a living. I don't condone aggressive sales tactics or unprepared, uninspired talks, but for me it all worked out very pragmatically and enjoyably. I sharpened my platform skills, thinking abilities, and networking tact. It was a win-win-win proposition: that is, for the organizers, for me, and for the audience.
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