The other lifeblood, scholarly publishing, is closely related, since many of the societies publish the major journals in their field, and giving papers at conferences is often the first step in getting the paper published. Many of the faculty make the pilgrimage and they can often introduce you to others in your field. Often carpools form for closer conferences and people arrange for inexpensive housing if enough people are going.
Most conferences have student rates for registration and occasionally for accommodations as well.
Below we have listed a number of the major ones that people from the Toot frequent. This is the Canadian version of HSS, below, but including technology studies. They cover all aspects of the fields and meet annually. They also meet annually. Isis is published by the HSS, and conference papers often eventually end up in the journal.