Late winter and spring seem like prime time for content management conferences. If you were so inclined, you could practically make back-to-back reservations so that you're out of the office from March through June. Here's a quick look at a few of the conferences and events coming up for the first half of 2009. Ladies and gentlemen, start your frequent flyer miles!DrupalCon DC kicks things off, taking place in Washington, D.C., from March 4 - 7. It's no surprise that the conference is sold out -- there's a tremendous amount of excitement about the upcoming Drupal 7, and the development community is chomping at the bit to learn more.

Later in March, the AIIM International Exposition and Conference lands in Philadelphia at the Pennsylvania Convention Center from March 30 - April 2. This year's conference promises more than 130 different sessions on every imaginable aspect of content management along with more than 200 vendors on the exhibition floor. AIIM is a terrific organization, and this is sure to be an exciting event.

The combined Content Management Strategies/DITA North America conference will be held April 27 - 29 in St. Petersburg, Fla., at the Renaissance Vinoy Resort & Golf Club. The show plays host to dozens of sessions and exhibitors, and has an impressive lineup of speakers.

The CMS Expo Learning & Business Conference is a fairly tech-centric event, focusing on multiple training sessions for Joomla, Drupal, and Alfresco. Held in Chicago from April 30 - May 1, this conference focuses more on learning, and less on exhibits, so plan accordingly.

Capping off a busy spring is the sixth annual Gilbane Conference San Francisco, June 2 - 4. Both the midyear San Francisco and end-of-year Boston Gilbane Conferences are major events, and you can bet that this will be well worth your time if you're in the industry or responsible for helping to select a vendor. The theme this time around is "Where Content Management Meets Social Media," which should be of interest to many of us still trying to figure out how it all fits together.