>>Stack Overflow, Level Extreme, Foxite, etc. are great for getting the answer to a single issue. The benefit of conferences is that they present broader and deeper topics plus spark ideas that lead in unexpected directions. For example, one of the greatest tools ever created for VFP, Thor, came about over ideas Jim Nelson and Matt Slay tossed around at SWFox one year.
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>I've never used Thor. I hear about it a lot though.

I was also involved in the "birth" of Thor, but to a much lesser extent than Jim and Matt. And so was Doug, he is responsible for its UI.