At every conference or tradeshow, you get a badge. I have a box full of them on my desk, an increasing number of them with the title of "Speaker" affixed beneath my name. I recently had a conversation with some colleagues about the importance of being a speaker at an event. Often, the most important benefit is not just the visibility of speaking, but the license that speaker tag gives you to have a conversation with other speakers. If you think about it, the badges at a conference are like a caste system. Your badge identifies which group you belong in and can often dictate how people embrace or shy away from a conversation with you.