Recently I got a ticket to attend the Future of Online Advertising conference in New York. Even though my trip to the conference costs more than the ticket itself, I still feel it’s very important that I attend that conference. There are a lot of reasons why, but I’ll list the top 5.

Online advertising is related to web design: Having a website expands the borders of most brick and mortar businesses. It’s an extra avenue of promoting your business. But the Internet can also be used to promote your business to a wider audience with online advertising. It’s important for web designers to be informed of the latest trends of online advertising. Meeting people who are leaders in this area can always strengthen your knowledge of this subject, giving top quality information that can help explore more aspects of doing business online.

Educational value: The trip as a whole will be very educational to me. Getting there, meeting new potential friends, learning about other cultures, especially in the host city… All this can be to great value to someone from a third world country. And the greatest part of this is that I can share the educational value of the trip with others. Others from developing countries can get interested in attending such events. Even if they don’t this information could help them to see other avenues in online business.

I got a ticket for free: This free ticket is an invitation to experience the event. My mom always taught me to value anything that was given to me. Especially when you get something you usually had to work hard to receive. In those particular cases you should put all possible effort in using the opportunity that was presented.

I am a firm believer that nothing happens without reason. I didn’t win this ticket just for the heck of it. This is nature (or God, or the life force, as some may call it) giving me an opportunity. Not putting all possible effort in trying to get the most out of it, is like saying “I don’t need your help”.

Where there’s a will, a lot can be achieved: I want to prove that with a lot of willpower and related actions great things can be achieved. There are those who doubt my efforts to get to NYC will succeed. Some argue that my blog lacks the traffic and the “popularity” needed to achieve such results. I don’t mind their critique. I want to prove to myself and those who believe in me that I can do this. And if I don’t reach that goal, I have done my utmost in trying to reach it. That alone will strengthen me as a person, which is the most important thing to me.

I’m running dry: Being in the same vicious circle day in, day out, year in, year out, can make your mind get dull. You need to go out. That really helps, but since Suriname is not as developed in the online world, it’s very important to go out of the country and enjoy the way others out there do things. Get some extra inspiration from different cultures, different economical environments, different people. I never had the chance to attend such a conference. I’m sure this will spark some fresh ideas.

Do you think these reasons are worth sending me to the FOOA conference? Check out ways you can help to Get Rehuel to FOOA.

This article is written as part of Problogger.net’s Group Writing Project - Top 5. Check it out, maybe you can help make this project a grander success.

Update: My trip to NY is cancelled