Observance: conferences are the WORST place to try instruments.
No peace and quiet, no useable acoustics, a bunch of jock players that intimidate mere mortals (or think so) and salespeople that influence your mind by telling you what you will hear or experience, before you have actually played.
The differences between "great" instruments are subtle and require time and patience to decipher.
It is cool however to nail some (supposed) beginner to the wall with a killer double C however!
