[skybrian]

There's obviously a continuum here based on community size.

On one end, there are large communities. He has accounts on Twitter and Hacker News. Are you going to stop visiting? Would you avoid a shopping mall if he's there? Avoid sitting in the same movie theater?

On the other end, it's certainly reasonable to decline a dinner invitation if you don't like one of the other guests.

A conference seems like a larger and more impersonal gathering. You don't have to go to the talk, but you could go to other talks.