I attended the ACSM meeting in Denver earlier this month, and while I'm very glad I went, I found that I didn't get very much out of most of the talks. Most of the sessions that I attended were lecture-like presentations. The researchers could have put their powerpoints on the internet and I would have learned just as much. I was surprised by how little new data were presented, at least in the sessions I attended. (And I'll admit that I only attended two days, so it's possible I just missed the best sessions.)
The thing that was most useful for me was talking with researchers in between sessions and listening to the informal discussions that sprung up in hallways after the talks were over. I'm a science journalist, and I'm sure that I go to scientific conferences with a different agenda than I would as a scientist, but nevertheless, my experience at ACSM got me thinking: how can we makes scientific conferences better? I put a few of my thoughts together in a short piece. http://bit.ly/lessSucky I intend to write a follow up story, and would love to get some feedback. What do you look for in a scientific meeting? What's your purpose for going? What makes a meeting effective or ineffective? How could conferences be improved? I welcome your feedback in the comments section of the website, or send them to me directly, [email protected] and I'll compile them and share with the list. best wishes, Christie Aschwanden www.christieaschwanden.com ------------------------------------ Post messages to [email protected]. To (un)subscribe, send any message to sportscience-(un)[email protected]. View all messages at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sportscience/.Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sportscience/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sportscience/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
