You'll get lots of different answers from different people, depending on their experiences. Personally I think viewing a PhD as a passport to academia is not wise.

I certainly don't consider that when I submit an abstract for an oral presentation, that accepting it as a poster places any obligation on me! Some conferences ask you if you'd like to be considered for poster presentation, others assume. I agree that for the expense involved, it may well not be worth it.

Yes, judicious use of an appendix is helpful with word count issues. Also don't provide too many quotes from your interviews, just enough to illustrate specific points and themes. You can't really quote every interesting finding from your interviews.

Yes, you should put that you have reviewed papers on your CV.

Does anyone else get a little annoyed with self-important institutions? I spoke to the contact person for a research post today, and before she even found out anything about me she had assumed that I wouldn't be up to the requisite standard for the job/institution. I found that very annoying. Any thoughts?

Everyone makes mistakes! That's why there is peer review, not just at the pre-publishing stage but after. I have found mistakes in my area in monographs and edited volumes, and I have made mistakes that I or others have picked up on. Just learn from it. 100% agree with glowworm's comment about a PhD being the beginning.

It can be difficult for uni to find two examiners that are a good fit for your project, my internal examiner had only a tangential connection to my topic (but was a good examiner). Expect that you might be asked about developments since your submission and how they affect your conclusions.

My conference was on a very niche topic, and as GrumpyMule says it makes it easier not having to run anything by anyone. I was free to organize it how I wanted, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was also off-campus, but making arrangements by email easy enough. Having some admin support really handy though, but department will probably have someone to help.
Pitfalls I remember:
Not good enough signage for delegates to find the room.
Room too small in the end!
Water I ordered didn't arrive, should have had catering number at hand.

I totally agree with you about the issues of devising your own project, which is what I did. There is a lot of empire building though. Easy enough with "goldilocks" job adverts designed to suit only one person.

It doesn't give people much incentive to share anything! Also add in the much greater ability to get grants if associated with particular universities, and it's easy to see why some institutions can rest on their laurels.
I am also concerned about people piggy-backing on my ideas in my field. Very difficult unless you become an academic hermit.

I have, and for a single day event perfectly possible by yourself (and some secretarial support from Uni) - means you get all the credit too.
I'd persevere if I were you. Let me know if you want any tips.

I'd like to use a bright colour for my binding, but I'm stuck with bilious green or unmentionable brown!

Well done!

You need to decide on a research question, and once you have that and your philosophical assumptions the research design will tend to follow from that.

One of my friends who also got great difficulty finding a job after her PhD said to me "I wouldn't recommend academia as a proper career choice to anyone - it's a bit like the media or film industry - there are far too few jobs for so many people and it seems to come down more to who you know and not what you know or can do. It far too difficult to get in unless you know someone". I have to agree, no proper career structure.