This October is insane for me: three conferences in a month. So this means I’m reminded of how cold it is in amtrak trains, how terrible institutional coffee is, and how all conferences are so similar, even when the topic is different. Nothing like the fifth or sixth session at a conference to help your mind wander. Mine started with all the stuff I had to do, and then in an effort to think of anything *but* that, circled back to conferences and their particular tech-related issues.
One thing I’ve been reminded of: conference programs matter, and they’ve recently changed for the better. The conference I’m just leaving, ISSOTL, had a plethora of options for theirs. You could use their online at a glance program, but it didn’t have nearly enough detail to really use. Or you could use their giant PDF document. Or get a print version of the giant PDF document (it was 3 inches thick! I guess that’s one way to get your daily workout in). I chose to download a program app – guidebook – and then install the conference program content. The app is pretty slick. It makes it easy to choose activities from the program and add them to “my schedule”. It does suffer from trying-to-do-too-much syndrome, though. For instance, the included maps are way too low res to read. And why would I tweet from inside the app? Still, not a bad solution. Best of all, when I checked in, I was given the option of not getting print anything, an option I gladly chose. The last thing I need is more conference detritus.
Nonetheless, it looks like instead of print detritus (and the ubiquitous conference totes, which I’m now smart enough to turn down) I’m going to be accumulating conference app detritus. My next conference uses yet another app for their program, which also requires a password (damn you! And seriously, why?) It, too, has completely unnecessary options built in. No, I don’t want to link to Facebook or LinkedIn.
Maybe I’ll just stick to the PDF file next time. It may be a few years before one conference app gains enough users to be worth sticking with.
Other random notes:
PowerPoint and reading from slides is still the standard. It’s depressing.
[I was going to add a bad PowerPoint slide to this post but then realized that would be cruel and unnecessary. We’ve all seen them: too much text, poor layout, color choice making the whole thing illegible. Sometimes even in comic sans. Gah.]
Twitter, however, helps a lot. It keeps me focused on slow-moving sessions while allowing for dialogue with other conference participants. If only more people tried twitter, I think they’d like it too.
Conference venues and organizers really need to understand once and for all that wifi is MANDATORY. I just got an email from my next conference warning us that there’s no internet access in the conference rooms. How is that even possible in 2013!?!? And the conference is in Times Square. I’m flabbergasted.
There’s not much I can do about the status quo other than trying to do better myself. So, here’s my promise:
– I will never read from my slides or my paper while I’m presenting.
– I will keep tweeting, even if no one really “listens”.
– I will try to cut down on the bad coffee. (Though that will likely mean replacing it with Starbucks, which costs money, and isn’t always much better.)
On the road again…