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In the era of AI, our network is what makes us valuable, and the work more enjoyable. (The work is mysterious and important). Go to more conferences.

I had the same sort of reaction: I agree that having friends is a requirement, but needing to attend conferences to gain them gates on ability to pay

Yep. There are potential ways to alleviate this, like funds or reduced fees for less-fortunate folks, etc., but airfares are not getting cheaper, and that still would exclude a large swath of folks

Also, "just get a talk accepted" isn't a sustainable answer either, for a whole bunch of reasons.