Greetings --
With great respect for Mike's goals for the list, and thanks for so many
valuable postings, a half-cent of agreement that this is a valuable
topic for this group: we need to justify the costs of these events in
more ways than money costs alone. One point: I have often gone to
meetings of groups I did not know as a very expeditious way to see the
leadership, the collective approaches (or lack), and the culture of the
group; much more one should know about a group than can be see in a
literature review alone. One wish - not joking: a good facility
designed for academic meetings - low on frills, good acoustics, mix of
spaces, etc - that can be used at moderate cost and at a railroad
nexus. (Can it be other than Chicago? Don't know). Hopefully, the
energy efficiency of railroads will someday overcome even our demented
policies. Final idea: virtual conferencing and webinars and such could
be much more common without abandoning a biennial personal meeting, and
timing of "two afternoons" meetings could be much better for particular
purposes -- teaching focus could be before syllabi are final and
readings are ordered, politics focus could be at times related to
federal and state legislative sessions, and regulation focus could be
organized to facilitate responsiveness to major rule-making, and so
forth. With due consideration for responsiveness from audience
(probably a moderating and filtering committee) as a reasonable part of
these things, they might help bridge to other groups and disciplines on
a cost-effective basis. Joint programs?
Best wishes to all -
John Wiener
