kfitz

Other People's Conferences, Part Two

So I’m in Montreal for the American Sociological Association meeting, where we’re doing some interviewing. I have to reiterate that there’s something lovely about attending conferences for organizations to which you do not belong, but in this case it’s not the lushness of the environs (though Montreal’s lovely, don’t get me wrong), the lavishness of the meals (though I’ve eaten quite well), or the existence of the swag that makes me happy. What makes me happy here is my total anonymity.

I know precisely three people at this conference, and they’re the colleagues I’ve traveled here with. So as I wander through the conference center, I feel none of the usual pressure to recognize the folks around me–I’m not scanning the crowd for familiar faces, not checking out name tags to see where the superstars are. I’m just here, nobody in particular, who knows no one.

It’s pretty great. I’ve managed to attend a couple of panels, which I’ve enjoyed, though one was a bit overly quantitative for my tastes, and the other could well have been at the other ASA, the one I usually attend. Which made me wonder what made the work done there particularly sociological in nature, but what the heck.

Today, I get to spend some time getting some work done before returning to the unfray. This is my favorite part of conferences: feeling inspired to return to whatever project I’ve got going.

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