In conference (more musings)

For almost a full week I have been in work related group forums away from the office and away from the town I live in. First in running a very full-on 3 day workshop-type extravaganza* and now in attending a conference. The story of the workshop can wait, I’m still processing, will maybe reflect on later. For now I’m in conference mode and will dig deep in my pockets and share with you the random assortments of reflections –the mints and business cards and room keys of the mind that come with events like this.

Firstly, note that I am at this very moment absenting myself from proceedings. Gracefully, hopefully discretely. Lots do – people swing in and out of the sessions, leave early, duck away and come back. And fair enough too. Absorbing new ideas thoughtfully is actually a much more strenuous activity than is generally given credit for. And I presented a paper yesterday (my first peer reviewed for an international conference – but nonetheless I plan to play with some more and submit to a journal soon - woo hoo), so am surely justified in some down time to recover?

The whole notion of being surrounded by the same group of people all day and then returning to spend the evenings together over buffet dinners and plenary sessions is an interesting one. Yesterday after the end of the plenary there was a precious unscheduled hour and a half before we would return to eat together. The women I’d been talking to decided to spend it in the bar, a few metres away from where we had been all day and would shortly return, to chat and drink red wine. Now chatting and drinking red wine is an activity I am generally very much a fan of, but in these circumstances my skin crawled at the thought. ‘Arrrrgh, it’s like a hideous polite well-referenced lock-in!!’ I thought, and promptly excused myself to return to my room, take of my shoes, get changed, make a good effort at finishing my book** and most most importantly - not talk to anyone!! I sometimes wish that you could use character traits as if they were medical conditions*** ‘sorry – introvert, must go recharge before dinner’… or ‘sorry, reflective, must go blog to some like minded souls so I can make sense of the universe in good company’.

Some more random observations. Food – they feed you a lot at events like this, but you never really feel wither hungry or full. I had a craving for really salty pizza last night, after dinner. Maybe it’s something to do with other people picking what you eat, even in a buffet, it’s a really limited range of foods, especially if you are not eating meat.

Eating together at conferences – do you think it’s nerdy to stay for the dinners and mingle like crazy? I could understand if you did, but strangely don’t. I figure if I’m here, I may as well meet some of the people who are also interested in this topic, and try to get an idea of their interesting wavy paths and interests. I also figure it’s a good way to hand out business cards and get other peoples – potential project partners, mentors, clients, friends? Who knows how the people we meet randomly at these strange events might feature later if we let it happen.

Necklaces – women at conferences often wear very funky necklaces, and I myself observe this ritual. Not just that, but I feel an almost palpable surge of gratitude towards other women who are sporting some multi-stranded bead and sequin number that matches their top in a subtly way, or some nuggety amber beads that sing of ancient times and bugs dying in hot honey and Baltic seas. What is that about? Could it be that women have a stronger affinity (either because of biological or cultural forces) to be more broadly multilingual – and the language of colour and the humour of objects speaks more strongly to us? (I’m being metaphoric and exploratory here, not barking mad, just in case you can’t spot the difference). But what is it about the jewelry thing? It’s not so much about status or ‘value’ (ie these are not diamond tiaras we are talking about) but somehow related to distraction and celebration of the joy ion the world, and the need for colour and texture. How is it that men don’t bore themselves stupid when they wear the same plain colours every day, with not a funky accessory to be seen? It’s like a warmed up death.

*Not just an information workshop, but a deliberative forum with randomly selected citizens’ deliberating on environmental policy issues
** reading my book that is – not just popping upstairs to finish penning that novel I’ve never quite started
*** Of course in reality I am completely against the idea of pathologising normal human attributes, and squeezing the range of ‘normal’ into a tight band with the majority of us hanging woefully either end of the scale. I just meant if these could be used like ‘sorry, I have a cold, must go blow my nose’. Maybe a religious metaphor would be better than a medical one? Like ‘actually I’m an orthodox book worm and must go an complete my afternoon reading now’.