I think the core reason for this is that conferences are essentially all expenses paid mini vacations for corporate workers.
It's a seemingly legitimate way for companies to give their employees a perk. Sure, some people are actually there to learn things for work purposes, but the vast majority are simply happy to have a few days off work to relax (and maybe learn a bit) on the company dime. It's America's (crappy) solution to our relatively low number of vacation days.
It shouldn't be any surprise that people drink and party a lot at conferences. People tend to do those things while on vacation.
The other piece to that is in most cases these events are the only time some groups of friends or strong acquaintances have the opportunity to hang out and bond face to face. confer. I would argue that is human nature to want to celebrate with friends who you only see on rare occasion and drinking tends to be the most easily and socially acceptable way of doing so. In many cases it is at these events that many times acquaintances become stronger relationships through just hanging out as people post conference.
Almost exactly what I was going to say. I have a team of employees that work in San Francisco. I work from home in Annapolis, MD, on the opposite side of the country.
I don't see them often enough and while I certainly love my co-workers, I try to pack as much face time in whenever I'm on their side of the country as I'm able.
If I'm there for a conference, it's because I want to learn, or be enriched by whatever the conference is offering -- but I can bet that for certain I'll be hanging out late with the peeps I don't get to see enough as well.
It's America's (crappy) solution to our relatively low number of vacation days.
This would suggest that you'd find less conference participation in places with more generous vacation policies, like Western Europe or Australia. Anecdotally I haven't seen any evidence that that is true, although it might be.
What I have heard from various people is that conference attendees in the US tend to be much more focused on socializing, whereas in Europe most people will attend the sessions and then go home. But shorter travel distances may also be a factor.
On a related note: alcohol laws may also make a big difference. Europeans have pretty much grown out of the "awesome, I can drink legally now" phase by the time they hit 25, Americans in that age group tend to have a slightly immature alcohol culture.
I think this is a major part of it. In Europe many kids are drinking like crazy when they're 15. By the time they're 21, binging and going nuts is sort of passe. Underage drinking is also not seen in the same way as it is in the US. The attitude is more "it's better not to drink when you're a kid" rather than "kids drinking is the root of all evil".
I think there is a much more mature view of alcohol consumption. On the other hand, many Europeans seem to have a much more hard-line view on drugs (even marijuana).
But when you consider the history of the US, it is not surprising. We are still less than 100 years away from Prohibition.
It's a seemingly legitimate way for companies to give their employees a perk. Sure, some people are actually there to learn things for work purposes, but the vast majority are simply happy to have a few days off work to relax (and maybe learn a bit) on the company dime. It's America's (crappy) solution to our relatively low number of vacation days.
It shouldn't be any surprise that people drink and party a lot at conferences. People tend to do those things while on vacation.