For years, I have been aching … aching to go to so many tech and new media events in the Bay Area. Now that I’ll soon be living there, it should be easy for me to go. Right?

Wrong.

The sticker price for some of these events is a shock. And unless you have an employer willing to foot the bill or you’re a successful entrepreneur in your own right, you might as well delete these events from your iCal.

Frankly, young professionals do not have this money lying around. Many of us are still watching every penny and feeling guilty for paying $7 to see a movie.

Case in point: here’s a list of some March events in the Bay Area and the prices:

Emerging Communications Conference: $1,890
San Francisco, March 3-5, 2009

O’Reilly Emerging Technology Conference: $1,145 (Conference only)
San Jose, March 19-12, 2009

OMMA Global Hollywood: $1,095 (Full Conference, exhibition free)
Hollywood, March 23-24, 2009

Web2.0 Expo: $1,445 (Conference only)
San Francisco, March 31-April 3, 2009

I’m sorry, but what young professional without a trust fund can afford this?

Industry folks can say young professionals are the future all they want, but how are they walking the walk? What is the technology industry doing to nurture its next generation of business leaders?

Not cultivating potential

My father and I got into a discussion the other day about Einstein.

My father argued that assuming a person is born with a certain level of intelligence, he/she has the potential to do great things if they put that potential to its full use – maybe not discover the Theory of Relativity, but you get the point.

I said this was not true. Without proper nutrition, access to information (books, library, the Web, etc.) and a supportive environment, a person with even the highest level of intelligence may have all his/her promise go to waste. We see this in schools all the time: The smart girl, but the poor girl, whose home life consumes her and she ends up dropping out of school at 15. The creative boy who is always inventing things, but whose parents don’t cultivate or support his individuality.

After K-12, there are scholarships to help cultivate the minds of those who otherwise could not afford to go to college. What is there after college, though? There are industry events like the ones I’ve listed above that provide excellent learning opportunities…but only to those who can afford it.

I’m not arguing that young pros – including myself – are entitled to go these events. Far from that.

I AM arguing that conferences are great opportunities to cultivate future industry leaders, but that there needs to be a system in place to ensure they have the opportunity to participate.

The solutions are simple

There ARE simple ways to get more promising young people involved with these events. A few solutions include:

1. Event organizers can raffle off a small number of tickets to those 25 and younger or those who cannot afford to attend.

2. The industry can create an organization that sponsors the attendance of select young professionals.

3. Event organizers scan create a sponsor program and allow young professionals to fill out a questionnaire about themselves and why they would like to attend. Then, on the registration checkout page for the event, they can add a “Sponsor a Young Professional” button that navigates to an area where registrants can select a young professional they would like to sponsor.

These are all relatively simple solutions, and they don’t even have to be targeted to young professionals per se. They can be open to the 15-year-old programming whiz kid from a poor family in Arizona. Or an older professional who doesn’t have the money to attend. Or an exchange student. It doesn’t matter.

The point is to open up all the great industry events to those who want to be there and who will benefit.

Do you think any of these ideas would work? Or, do you believe the current system of “if you can pay, you can go” is fair?

Photo via Jurveston

In two weeks, I’ll be packing what I can fit into my decade-old Ford Escort and driving south to San Francisco. Where I will stop. Indefinitely.

Portland has been good to me – three very good years. I’ve met so many wonderful, intelligent and inspiring people, and there are so many of you out there I wish I would have met. But it’s not in the cards. At least for right now.

Why I’m Moving

This move has primarily been a professional decision: I love Portland, but have wanted to work in a larger market and closer to the heart of tech for quite some time. Also, although I’ve traveled a good amount, I’ve never lived outside of Oregon. As a 24-year-old gal on month-to-month rent, I can really do anything at this point in my life, and I’m capitalizing on it while I can.

How to Work With Me

If you’re interested in working with me on your PR and marketing communications projects – either directly for freelance work or as an employee – check out my new Hire Me page, where I’ve laid out what I can do for you and what makes me different. For my freelance work, I’m generally working through tech-focused agencies or directly with technology or services companies, but would still love to hear about your needs if you fall outside of that scope.

What the Future Holds

Once I get settled, I’ll be building up my freelance biz while in the meantime searching for a more permanent position – at an agency or in-house.

Outside of work, I’m planning to be out and about at attend industry events, so I hope I’ll be able to meet some of you I’ve been in touch with in-person! Hiking meetups are also on my to-do list, as well as a creative writing class or two.

If any San Franciscans happen to be reading this, shoot me an e-mail me and let’s make a point to meet up for some coffee. It’s on me.

To my friends and past colleagues here in Portland, I hope we will keep in touch. You have my e-mail and phone number and I have yours. Let’s not be strangers.

Image via emdot

What a loaded question.

The fact is, the tech news you should be reading depends on your interests, your clients (or company you work for) and the kind of work you do.

For instance, if you work in B2B, Engadget – one of the most popular blogs on the Web, which focuses on consumer tech gadgets – may be irrelevant to you.

If I had to choose a select number of tech news sources to give you the grand tour of the entire industry, I would recommend:

• AllThingsD (general tech, with a focus on Internet and media)
• CNET Business Tech News (biz tech)
• Engadget (consumer tech)
• NY Times Technology Section (general stories on tech across all topics)
• TechCrunch (startup Web tech)
• Techmeme (most popular posts on tech from around the Web)
• Valleywag (a little Silicon Valley gossip, and some insight into the people behind the tech)
• WIRED (top stories from the leading magazine covering tech)

If you want to subscribe to any of these news sources via RSS, just click the hyperlinks above. These sources should give you a good horizontal view of what’s going on in the technology industry.

If you were recommending a “starter kit” to a tech newcomer, would you make any additions or changes to this list?

Photo via takomabibelot