Comments on: Conference bingo

By: Eszter

Eszter — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 21:22:32 +0000

How could I have forgotten:

Presenter spends 80% of alloted time on an intro anecdote that wasn’t supposed to be part of the presentation.

By: MissLaura

MissLaura — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:17:44 +0000

Attendees attaching ribbons of various offices and sections to their name badge in inverse proportion to their importance in the discipline. (This is probably another one that could just count as free.)

The most fun I ever had at the ASA was in Philadelphia. I ate gelato like 3 times a day at the place around the corner from the hotel, and I stayed out until 2:30 at a Knitters concert, which was fabulous.

By: SMG

SMG — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 21:29:54 +0000

“I’ve Got a Crush on the Author” lovefest masquerading as an “Author Meets Critics” panel.

Total elevator meltdown due to everyone rushing to panels at the same time.

Audience member opens with “I have a comment and a question,” and then proceeds to offer a never-ending comment followed by, “so I guess the question is, what do you think about that?”

By: Lala

Lala — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 20:09:10 +0000

Here’s another one from PhD Comics: http://www.phdcomics.com/comics/archive.php?comicid=847 Some squares have to be modified though to fit philosophy seminars.

By: Chris Bertram

Chris Bertram — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:08:30 +0000

““Abducted by fantastically wealthy and cultivated Marxist for sexual threesome with her husband.”

I’m afraid that sort of thing is so common these days that it really shouldn’t earn points in a game like this.

By: roac

roac — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 13:46:51 +0000

Not an academic, so all I know about academic conferences I learned from reading Small World by David Lodge.

It occurred to me that you could do an advanced board on which all the squares are occupied by things that happened in Small World (e.g., “Abducted by fantastically wealthy and cultivated Marxist for sexual threesome with her husband.”)

By: Amanda

Amanda — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 12:51:35 +0000

Enormous crush of people outside the elevators because the presentation rooms in the hotel are all on the 30th floor.

Desperate vendors trying to get rid of the last of their logo’ed pencils and coffee mug cozies by shoving them at random passers-by just before the exhibits close on the last day. (In my experience, this is more true of library conferences.)

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 09:23:52 +0000

“disco-dancing impressively well” – is that possible? I mean, in an absolute sense, as opposed to “quite mobile for her/his age”?

By: magistra

magistra — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:22:30 +0000

For medievalists:

Distinguished professor disco-dancing enthusiastically.

Distinguished professor disco-dancing impressively well.

By: sg

sg — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 07:15:24 +0000

But can you beat:

1. panel convener wrestles with audience member for microphone because he doesn’t like the question
2. “this is a very busy graph, I know, but…”

By: Caleb D'Anvers

Caleb D'Anvers — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:14:17 +0000

‘In the longer version of this paper, I …’ Double your points if this comes after the half-hour mark in a ‘20 minute’ paper.

Gratuitous PowerPoint slide of Gilles Deleuze.

Edward Said anecdote.

Senior figure hanging out with the grad student crowd in an attempt to appear cool and with it.

Ph.D. student who believes 5000 words is ‘about right’ for a 20-minute presentation, and won’t be persuaded otherwise.

For non-USian players attending Stateside conferences:

Complimented on ‘cuteness’ of accent.

Expression of surprise that you have universities in your country.

‘You must meet [$random_grad_student of same nationality as self]’. Double your points if you then discover you have mutual friends and/or went to the same school, to evident satisfaction of introducing party.

By: minneapolitan

minneapolitan — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:48:55 +0000

26: >Senior scholar who drunkenly reveals damning personal information about him/herself at a reception, causing a graduate student to carry the burden of a huge secret.

My experience, as a non-grad student who hangs out with grad students, is that such burdens are carried neither very long nor very far.

By: Ginger Yellow

Ginger Yellow — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 21:41:37 +0000

I only do business conferences, but I imagine these apply across the board.

Presentation consists entirely of reading the text of the Powerpoint slides.

Dinner comprises lumps of meat slathered in sauce, plus a vegetarian option of crudites and rice.

Time remaining at the end of the presentation is inversely proportional to the number of questions from the audience.

By: Grand Moff Texan

Grand Moff Texan — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:40:45 +0000

Long-assed introduction of self in an effort to broadcast one’s work/availability/awesomeness to panel audience before asking a truly banal question that shows that wasn’t the point?
.

By: Megan

Megan — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:24:49 +0000

The Google search for “ASA meeting” puts you at #6, beaten by the anesthesiologists (twice!), acousticians(?), agronomists, and statisticians.

My parents are in two different ASAs, neither of them sociology.