IfA 2012 Conference - Is it a worthwhile time/financial investment?

[Potcho]

Thankyou for such interesting and insightful replies everyone. I had always suspected that the conference, and indeed the active membership of the IfA more generally, was likely to be populated by higher ranking individuals and other suit-wearing types (not that I have anything against suits; I am just now quite used to track suit bottoms, a hoodie and wellies!). In the long-term perhaps it would be worthwhile attempting to make myself known and establish some contacts who could provide support and advice; however i'm not entirely convinced I have anything of note that I can market at this stage. My background is in Geography/pollen analysis, followed by a Masters which focused to a greater extent upon environmental archaeology, whilst my practical experience includes a very small amount of excavation and ever increasing hours of geophysics. I'm also considering setting aside some spare time in order to teach myself illustration and reconstruction drawing; however the likelihood of being able to achieve any recognition in that area is obviously quite remote. Perhaps my best option, as suggested above, would be to strive for practioner status within the IfA whilst employing any remaining time and money for the purpose of attending conferences which are of profoundly greater interest and which possess more networking potential, such as TAG and perhaps the AEA's forthcoming get-together. Certainly though, I do feel that more could be done within the organisation to appeal to the younger generation of archaeologists, particularly those currently in the process of clawing at the bottom rung of the ladder, perhaps in the form of networking/social events, either amongst themselves or which attempt to bridge the gap between the ties and the trowels. On the other hand I am very much in the process of starting out and it may be that I still have much to learn about the IfA and the world of professional archaeology as a whole.

Thanks again for the comments. I will still contemplate my options, but I think my mind is almost made up.