I belong to quite a lot of learned societies. We collect firearms and discuss them at dinners and clubs and things.
Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can - there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.
If the choice is between doing something supercool and having no one hear it and doing something equally cool and tricking people into putting it on the radio, I don't think the second option is some big sellout.

