Saturday, July 2, 2011

5 things I don't like about conferences

1. Mental exhaustion. After three days of inspiration, I feel completely brain-dead today.
2. Socialising. I avoid the drinks, dinner and any other social function I can. Not that I don't talk to people I know during the day...but non-stop interaction all day and all night is a bit more than I can handle.
3. People who are disrespectful to the speakers. Texting while someone is speaking is just rude. As is leaving after a speaker delivers their opening slide. If you are room-hopping to hear someone else's paper, then leave before the speaker starts. It's been many years since I presented at a conference, but trust me, it's very off-putting.
4. Carbohydrate overload. I realise that giving people lots of cake for morning tea and sandwiches made with huge chunks of bread is a filling option, but three days of it is a bit much. More fruit please! The hot lunch on day one was good but the food quality went a bit downhill from there.
5. That when they are over, you have to go back to the daily grind and deal with all the unfinished stuff from last week...

2 comments:

Sarah said...

I totally agree :)

I went to a librarians' conference in Melbourne three years ago and felt exactly the same. I was presenting there, but it was a trade fair type scenario with a roving audience. Some people would stay for the whole talk, others would move on to look at the other information booths. That was fine because that was how it was meant to be, but in the main sessions where everyone was seated for the talks, it was rude how people were talking during it or getting up and leaving before it was over.

Oh and there was WAY too much food and socialising. We'd either be sitting, eating or talking for the whole three days. I did go to the drinks afterwards and was so lonely and bored (and completely over socialising).

I hope it was still a little bit fun though :)

Karen said...

Yeah, still enjoyable. As you can see from the other post, the pros equalled the cons of the whole event, so I was happy at the end. Just tired.