Attending and participating in user groups and conferences is a fun way to become a better software architect. There are many different conferences that take place each year and they cover a wide variety of topics.
Listening to the various presentations is a great learning experience. Some of the speakers are industry leaders and you can learn a lot from them. Some sessions reserve time for questions and you can take advantage of that to follow up on something that was presented. After the session is over, you may have an opportunity to talk with the presenter and ask questions.
The benefit of attending a user group or conference is that, after it is over, you can share what you learned with others who did not attend. You can take any new knowledge you gained and create a presentation of your own that you can then share with those in your...