Parents Pile Into Work Conferences to Escape Their Families

In-person work conferences are returning, and many parents who spent much of the pandemic supervising children are happy for the break. Some confessed to sneaking out of sales presentations or using the hours between conference workshops for fancy meals, sightseeing or precious alone time.

Matthew Scales

said he heard about the famous carousel in Spokane, Wash., during the opening reception of the Public Relations Society of America conference. He decided he needed to ride it.

On his last day of meetings, Mr. Scales, 35, hopped on one of the hand-carved horses of the 1909 Looff Carousel. He was guilty about not taking his 3-year-old son, who was home in Bel Aire, Md. “It felt a little funny being on the carousel with that many kids,” the public-relations executive said.

He also took a run in the park, worked out in the hotel gym, ate a leisurely brunch and rode the city’s gondola—twice. “It’s a vacation without the kids,” he said. Mr. Scales brought home huckleberry-flavored taffy and gummy bear treats for souvenirs.

Before attending the Phocuswright travel and tech conference in Amsterdam this summer,

Andrew Bate,

44, passed over the recommended venues and booked his stay at the five-star Hyatt Regency. He got an upgrade to a suite with canal views and a free-standing tub. “There’s something about a clean hotel room with no responsibilities,” he said.

His wife, 37 weeks pregnant at the time, was back home in Atlanta with their 2-year-old girl.

Mr. Bate snagged a reservation at Restaurant Blauw to share a tasting menu of Indonesian-inspired street food with former co-workers, he said, “trying to pack as much in as I can.”

Most conferences still offer virtual attendance options, and organizers are going the extra mile to attract more in-person guests, according to

Diane Ragan,

chief executive of Chicago-based Ragan Communications, which produces 20 conferences a year. Recent conferences have had such perks as spa discounts and pool time schedule during the day. Conference-goers, she said, “don’t want to sit in a ballroom and watch PowerPoint slides.”

Attendees of NAR NXT, a conference organized by the National Realtors Association for November, will be offered free massages and a chance to pet dogs in an event billed as Pupapalooza, said

Heidi Henning,

the association’s vice president of meetings and events.

Wendy Smit,

an interior designer in Nashville, was counting the days before the four-day Design Camp in Austin, Texas—ostensibly to prepare her 3- and 4-year-old daughters. Her husband took solo parent duty for the first time.

Ms. Smit’s conference activities included a pizza-making class, indulging in avocado-toast meals and waking up in a private cottage. The event was at The Wayback, a spot it describes as “a little escape to the Texas Hill Country where it’s quieter, the air is fresh and the time slows.”

While away, Ms. Smit made video calls home in the morning and at night. She also enjoyed leisurely dinners, all the more pleasurable because she didn’t have to throw them together herself. “It definitely felt like a little moms’ getaway,” she said.

Some people making reservations this year are booking days before and after conferences to make time for horseback riding, fly fishing and white-water rafting, said

Justin Chesney,

associate director of meetings and special events at the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch in Avon, Colo. Parents, he observed, are “eating more, drinking more and trying more stuff.”

Maria Lopez,

a Philadelphia sleep consultant, was at first reluctant to spend 10 days away from her family to attend the World Sleep Congress in Rome. Her husband,

Gerald Lopez,

44, recalled “pushing her out the door.”

Ms. Lopez, 41, said her guilt dissipated “the second I stepped out of the Uber in front of the Colosseum” and toured the underground gladiator tunnels. She also visited the Forum and the Trevi Fountain, and took a photo of hazelnut gelato for her husband. “It’s his weakness,” said Ms. Lopez, who left him home with three daughters, ages 3, 6 and 9.

Two months later, Mr. Lopez left his wife with the girls to attend back-to-back conferences in New Orleans and Madison, Wis. “That was a little bit of a zinger for her,” said Mr. Lopez, a university employee. He, too, got 10 days away.

In New Orleans, Mr. Lopez said he was in bed by 9 p.m., enjoying the quiet of a 36th-floor suite. On the last day of the conference, he sneaked out of a presentation for a crawfish boil and a frozen margarita.

“It was the best $50 I spent in my life,” he said.

Write to Alina Dizik at [email protected]

In-person work conferences are returning, and many parents who spent much of the pandemic supervising children are happy for the break. Some confessed to sneaking out of sales presentations or using the hours between conference workshops for fancy meals, sightseeing or precious alone time.

Matthew Scales

said he heard about the famous carousel in Spokane, Wash., during the opening reception of the Public Relations Society of America conference. He decided he needed to ride it.

On his last day of meetings, Mr. Scales, 35, hopped on one of the hand-carved horses of the 1909 Looff Carousel. He was guilty about not taking his 3-year-old son, who was home in Bel Aire, Md. “It felt a little funny being on the carousel with that many kids,” the public-relations executive said.

He also took a run in the park, worked out in the hotel gym, ate a leisurely brunch and rode the city’s gondola—twice. “It’s a vacation without the kids,” he said. Mr. Scales brought home huckleberry-flavored taffy and gummy bear treats for souvenirs.

Before attending the Phocuswright travel and tech conference in Amsterdam this summer,

Andrew Bate,

44, passed over the recommended venues and booked his stay at the five-star Hyatt Regency. He got an upgrade to a suite with canal views and a free-standing tub. “There’s something about a clean hotel room with no responsibilities,” he said.

His wife, 37 weeks pregnant at the time, was back home in Atlanta with their 2-year-old girl.

Mr. Bate snagged a reservation at Restaurant Blauw to share a tasting menu of Indonesian-inspired street food with former co-workers, he said, “trying to pack as much in as I can.”

Most conferences still offer virtual attendance options, and organizers are going the extra mile to attract more in-person guests, according to

Diane Ragan,

chief executive of Chicago-based Ragan Communications, which produces 20 conferences a year. Recent conferences have had such perks as spa discounts and pool time schedule during the day. Conference-goers, she said, “don’t want to sit in a ballroom and watch PowerPoint slides.”

Attendees of NAR NXT, a conference organized by the National Realtors Association for November, will be offered free massages and a chance to pet dogs in an event billed as Pupapalooza, said

Heidi Henning,

the association’s vice president of meetings and events.

Wendy Smit,

an interior designer in Nashville, was counting the days before the four-day Design Camp in Austin, Texas—ostensibly to prepare her 3- and 4-year-old daughters. Her husband took solo parent duty for the first time.

Ms. Smit’s conference activities included a pizza-making class, indulging in avocado-toast meals and waking up in a private cottage. The event was at The Wayback, a spot it describes as “a little escape to the Texas Hill Country where it’s quieter, the air is fresh and the time slows.”

While away, Ms. Smit made video calls home in the morning and at night. She also enjoyed leisurely dinners, all the more pleasurable because she didn’t have to throw them together herself. “It definitely felt like a little moms’ getaway,” she said.

Some people making reservations this year are booking days before and after conferences to make time for horseback riding, fly fishing and white-water rafting, said

Justin Chesney,

associate director of meetings and special events at the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch in Avon, Colo. Parents, he observed, are “eating more, drinking more and trying more stuff.”

Maria Lopez,

a Philadelphia sleep consultant, was at first reluctant to spend 10 days away from her family to attend the World Sleep Congress in Rome. Her husband,

Gerald Lopez,

44, recalled “pushing her out the door.”

Ms. Lopez, 41, said her guilt dissipated “the second I stepped out of the Uber in front of the Colosseum” and toured the underground gladiator tunnels. She also visited the Forum and the Trevi Fountain, and took a photo of hazelnut gelato for her husband. “It’s his weakness,” said Ms. Lopez, who left him home with three daughters, ages 3, 6 and 9.

Two months later, Mr. Lopez left his wife with the girls to attend back-to-back conferences in New Orleans and Madison, Wis. “That was a little bit of a zinger for her,” said Mr. Lopez, a university employee. He, too, got 10 days away.

In New Orleans, Mr. Lopez said he was in bed by 9 p.m., enjoying the quiet of a 36th-floor suite. On the last day of the conference, he sneaked out of a presentation for a crawfish boil and a frozen margarita.

“It was the best $50 I spent in my life,” he said.

Write to Alina Dizik at [email protected]