They come in every season, pay no attention to parliamentary sitting dates, and often run for several weekdays.
And those who attend them need places to stay, eat and drink.
In short, conferences are a boon for Canberra's economy, and according to the peak body tasked with luring them to the capital, we need to triple the city's capacity.
And speaking of tripling, the chief executive of the Canberra Convention Bureau Michael Matthews says there's finally tripartisan support for a new convention centre being a priority in the next term.
"This is a project, just given the demand, given the usage, is going to be one of these things that will actually help pay for all the other things that we need as well," he said on Friday.
The only question is where to put it.
The Canberra Liberals have already said they'd build a new national convention centre on the site of the Civic pool, at a cost of $760 million, if elected next week.
The Civic pool site had been long earmarked for a city stadium, which has since been abandoned by the current government, which is now planning to build a new convention centre across the current site and the Civic pool site.
It would be part of a precinct which would also include an indoor music venue. The venue would not be built under the Liberals plan.
An ACT Greens party spokesman said on Friday that it supported an expanded centre for the city centre, but did not elaborate further.
But Mr Matthews said it would not be the time to "make do" when it came to planning a new centre, and that retrofitting the existing facility would be rife with problems.
It's too small and too dated, and retrofitting it would mean it would be out of action for a long period.
"We actually need it to be ticking over, because there's so many businesses that rely on that business, that vibrancy in the city," Mr Matthews said.
Meanwhile, he said, getting broad support for the project, in whatever form it eventually took, was a reason for optimism, and a sign that Canberra was ready to capitalise on a booming market.
"Conferences meet on around 260 days in the year ... so that's really good year-round demand," he said.
"They're coming when we need the business. They come when Parliament's sitting, and they come when Parliament's not sitting. So this constant demand driver is happening, and they tend to be midweek."
And if there's a time that Canberra needs to up its game, it's during the mid-week slump.
"The way you judge a city is based on your tourism interaction, and if you come in on a Wednesday and have a wander around or look for something to eat and nothing's open, then that's a bit of a poor shopfront for Canberra," he said.
"So what we do is add that real vibrancy midweek and then the weekends take care of themselves."
He said many Canberra businesses, especially those based in the city, had long lamented the imbalance between the peaks of roaring weekend trade and midweek troughs.
One such business is Verity Lane Market, which has a prominent position on Northbourne Avenue.
Manager Kathryn Oplantzakis said a new convention centre in the city would help a multi-capacity venue like Verity Lane, which can hold up to 1200 people, to thrive in years to come.
"Canberrans as a nation are fantastic at supporting local businesses, particularly on the weekends, but the national and international business which a new convention centre will bring to the city, will benefit so many aspects of the economy," she said.
"It's a no-brainer for us ... Obviously, the busier we are, the more days a week, especially in those off-peak times, means we can obviously employ more staff. Verity Lane houses six individual owner-operator business kitchens, so it means they're busier too.
"It's just a win, win for everyone."
