This has been an interesting discussion and it might be of value to consider the different types of meetings and the rewards of attending each. Also there are different kinds of meetings in different parts of the world, and this is an important factor.
The US has a lot of really big meetings with many parallel sessions, and although I have attended some of these I really don't like them or find them of much use. Europe is fragmented by many different languages and although we have many international meetings with one or more official languages, there are also many national or regional meetings defined by language more than geography. The meetings I really find valuable are small international meetings devoted to relatively narrow fields, where you meet just about everyone in the world in your field. Of course which meetings you attend can also depend on your objectives. If you are looking for a job teaching ecology in the US, then probably the ESA meetings should be your first choice. My favourite meeting on the other hand was the first, and probably only, meeting of the ICU* in Halifax about 30 years ago -- there were ten of us there and we had a great time! Bill Silvert * International Ctenophorologists Union ----- Original Message ----- From: "Malcolm McCallum" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 3:59 AM Subject: Re: Skipping meetings > There are several reasons to go to meetings. > There are undoubtedly more reasons. I think most people should be going > to 1-2 international/national meetings per year. These should be selected > very carefully. For example, my international meetings would be one > ecology-natural resource meeting (ESA, SCB, Wildlife SOc.) and the > herpetology meetings. Then I may go to regional meetings when they are > within a hop-skip-jump of my location. For example SWAN has been near my > location three times in the last five years, and I attend. Then I try to > attend one of the local state academy meetings if I have time. Needless > to say, time and money are usually the determining factors. > > IF you are new, you need to attend on organization religiously so you get > known. The old guard can pretty much do what they want as Bill stated, > they have already convinced everyone of their prowess. > > Malcolm McCallum
