I'm in a bit of a daze this weekend after back-to-back conferences. It's hard work sitting and listening to people read out loud... And I found it harder work, oddly, sitting listening to someone reading out something that had been pre-circulated. It's a weird way of exchanging ideas, isn't it, to print out someone's paper, read it in advance and then sit with twenty other people listening to the author read it out? The rustle of paper as we all turn over the page...
The best thing about conferences, really, is catching up with friends and colleagues. So perhaps we should cut the reading-out time and increase the drinking coffee/gossiping/bitching time.
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