{"id":209,"date":"2009-08-02T08:07:34","date_gmt":"2009-08-02T08:07:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/2009\/08\/02\/conference_call\/"},"modified":"2025-01-30T07:49:11","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T07:49:11","slug":"conference_call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/2009\/08\/02\/conference_call\/","title":{"rendered":"Conference Call"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is coming up for a year ago that I attended my first conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I was aware, when I registered for SciBlog08, that this would not be a conventional convention. From being asked what should be discussed<\/a> to a slightly unusual social programme<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"
\nSomeday, all conferences will be like this<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

SciBlog08 was certainly a Web2.0 gathering.<\/p>\n

But the next<\/em> two events I attended did not fit with what I imagined a conference would be like, either.<\/p>\n

There was the relentless enthusiasm of the iGEM 2008 Jamboree<\/a>. Then there was Bayer<\/a> ‘s Press Forum, Perspective on Innovation<\/a>, at which I witnessed the nature of questions from the floor when they come from those with a journalistic, rather than a scientific, motive.<\/p>\n

Since then, I have been to a couple more meetings, both at home<\/a> and away<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are some elements that these conferences have in common. There is being starstruck at seeing someone whose work you admire<\/a> presenting<\/a>. There is struggling to follow some talks, and being captivated by others. There is conference paraphernalia<\/a> and there are nametags, which for some inexplicable reason I retain.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nWhat’s my name again?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I feel privileged to have attended what I believe is 2009’s most exclusive gathering<\/a>, which came with what is undoubtedly the best conference hospitality I have witnessed in my short conference-attending career to date. The programme was infinitely flexible, incorporating local cuisine<\/a> and culture<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The freebies were exemplary. And, being among friends, no nametags were needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is coming up for a year ago that I attended my first conference. I was aware, when I registered for SciBlog08, that this would not be a conventional convention. From being asked what should be discussed to a slightly … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[189,192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blogging-the-phd","category-nature-network"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3047,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions\/3047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/erikacule\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}