The grad student mixer, also known as the Reception for Graduate Students, is truly a mixed bag. Sometimes you strike up a conversation immediately with interesting people who aren't antagonistic or otherwise problematic. But that's for lucky people. If you aren't a lucky person, you bumble around for 20 minutes, wondering if you should leave, attempting to make eye contact with people, hoping you bump into someone in the room who will make it worth your while, all the while praying you won't do or say anything to horribly embarrass yourself.
Here are other things that sometimes happen:
-Sometimes you experience the Surprise Encounter, someone you haven't seen for years until you almost knock them over in the food line. This can be either a positive or negative experience.
-Sometimes you're the only person in the circle who has no idea what's being discussed, but you have to pretend you do. That, like the first scenario, might have varying degrees of success.
-Sometimes you get into a fight over the last piece of chicken satay. It's really a lose-lose situation at that point.
-Sometimes, despite being completely sober, you are so addled from the grad student mixer experience that you are unable to locate your car in the parking garage and are forced to ask one of your new grad student mixer friends to help you look for it for over 20 minutes, thereby demonstrating epic incompetence. [True Story. I was in great form this year. Thanks, David! For more on this, see my post on why you need grad student friends to save you.]
-[REDACTED] There's a reason I like to call it Historian Speed Dating. The high tables, the lack of seating, the constant moving around the room, the three minute conversations of "SO, real quick, what do you study?". It's both fun and ridiculous, and by the end of it, you're not entirely sure what's happened. In keeping with theme, where this ends is somewhere on a spectrum between "well" and "so, so badly". Like prom.
Someone once asked me why, if there's a high possibility of an awkward situation, do I go to such events. The answer is, I like interesting people and I'm generally confident in my ability to suss them out. Granted, sometimes you end up with a guy who won't let go of your hair (like last year), but other times you end up meeting a bunch of new smart, fun people that you're likely to see again in the future. This year might be able to cancel out last year. Maybe.
Showing posts with label AHA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AHA. Show all posts
Friday, January 14, 2011
Thursday, January 13, 2011
AHA: Getting Started
The feedback I've been getting from people who attended the Annual Meeting is that it can be quite intimidating. There are a few reasons for this. It involves travel, which requires planning and coordination. It is massive -- literally thousands of people, most of whom you don't know. It is tightly planned, with a huge number of panels, meetings, and sessions that overlap and you have to wade through the program and figure out what is most useful to you. It facilitates social and professional networking, which can be awkward and which some people just plain don't like.
I try to make the most out of the meeting, but have come to understand that there's a learning curve to these things. I think I did better than last year, in part because I did the following things:
1) Prioritize time. I figured out what was "high priority" and made sure I did all of those things. If there was time or energy left over for the rest of my itinerary, I went, but I at least tried not to burn out.
2) Understand that there's a bit of madness involved. No amount of pacing the paths between rooms and scouting the conference center would have prepared me for navigating the Annual Meeting. I made peace with it.
3) Force yourself to talk to at least one person per session. This is hard. This is awkward. But it can lead to all sorts of great stuff. Worst case scenario is the person isn't interested in talking and you move on quickly to someone else. Best case scenario, you end up having lunch with a bunch of people who like what you like.
These, my Annual Meeting New Year Resolutions if you will, made a big difference.
Do you have any helpful hints for making conferences and meetings productive? I'd love to hear them, I need new resolutions for next year!
I try to make the most out of the meeting, but have come to understand that there's a learning curve to these things. I think I did better than last year, in part because I did the following things:
1) Prioritize time. I figured out what was "high priority" and made sure I did all of those things. If there was time or energy left over for the rest of my itinerary, I went, but I at least tried not to burn out.
2) Understand that there's a bit of madness involved. No amount of pacing the paths between rooms and scouting the conference center would have prepared me for navigating the Annual Meeting. I made peace with it.
3) Force yourself to talk to at least one person per session. This is hard. This is awkward. But it can lead to all sorts of great stuff. Worst case scenario is the person isn't interested in talking and you move on quickly to someone else. Best case scenario, you end up having lunch with a bunch of people who like what you like.
These, my Annual Meeting New Year Resolutions if you will, made a big difference.
Do you have any helpful hints for making conferences and meetings productive? I'd love to hear them, I need new resolutions for next year!
AHA: Navigating in a Bubble
Last year, you might recall from my posts, the Annual Meeting was held in San Diego, where every couple of hours you would leave one hotel for a lovely seaside stroll to the next. This year, it was in Boston, and in Boston on a weekend where there was a snowstorm. The upside to the planning was that the conference center and hotels were linked by a mall and skybridges. The downside to that is I went three days without going outside and wasn't even consciously aware of it.
Until the third day, when a fire alarm drove us from the building. It was truly an interesting experience. I was in the audience of a fascinating panel when the alarm went off. At first, no one was sure what was going on. Instead of the usual fire alarm, it was a beeping tone. Then we heard the WAH WAH WAH and it was clear we needed to get out.
Now, back in elementary school, we learned what to do in this instance. Before you even get to stop, drop, and roll, you 1) abandon all belongings, 2) walk single file, quickly, out of the building, and 3) do not get in elevators or on escalators or touch anything electronic. Still, when the alarm went off, we all hesitated. "Should we leave? Is it real? Could we just stay until we wrap up the third paper? We want to hear the comment!"
Eventually I sprung into action, having been well-trained by my first grade teacher in such matters. It was down the stairs, through the hall, around a wing of the mall, out the door to shiver and huddle together for warmth (not having to go outside = no coats) until the fire department gave approval for reentry.
The whole thing made me think about the set-up. I have to admit that I got lost in the mall. Several times. I managed to find my way around San Diego but I couldn't get from one building to another without accidentally ending up in The Gap. Historians rushing to sessions met crazed shoppers on their own turf. As one professor put it, "at this AHA, we get to have contact with civilians."
Fortunately for many, nothing was actually on fire, and things proceeded smoothly from there. Though it gets one thinking. If monthly fire drills for elementary school students, who are quick and spry and can easily escape out of windows, are a good thing, perhaps emergency-drilling at conference venues shouldn't be out of the question.
Until the third day, when a fire alarm drove us from the building. It was truly an interesting experience. I was in the audience of a fascinating panel when the alarm went off. At first, no one was sure what was going on. Instead of the usual fire alarm, it was a beeping tone. Then we heard the WAH WAH WAH and it was clear we needed to get out.
Now, back in elementary school, we learned what to do in this instance. Before you even get to stop, drop, and roll, you 1) abandon all belongings, 2) walk single file, quickly, out of the building, and 3) do not get in elevators or on escalators or touch anything electronic. Still, when the alarm went off, we all hesitated. "Should we leave? Is it real? Could we just stay until we wrap up the third paper? We want to hear the comment!"
Eventually I sprung into action, having been well-trained by my first grade teacher in such matters. It was down the stairs, through the hall, around a wing of the mall, out the door to shiver and huddle together for warmth (not having to go outside = no coats) until the fire department gave approval for reentry.
The whole thing made me think about the set-up. I have to admit that I got lost in the mall. Several times. I managed to find my way around San Diego but I couldn't get from one building to another without accidentally ending up in The Gap. Historians rushing to sessions met crazed shoppers on their own turf. As one professor put it, "at this AHA, we get to have contact with civilians."
Fortunately for many, nothing was actually on fire, and things proceeded smoothly from there. Though it gets one thinking. If monthly fire drills for elementary school students, who are quick and spry and can easily escape out of windows, are a good thing, perhaps emergency-drilling at conference venues shouldn't be out of the question.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
AHA: Academic Knock-Down Drag-Outs
Have you ever given a presentation that just went wrong? Like nothing you said was what you meant to say, or everybody was misunderstanding you, and the whole thing was a dud from the first? This can happen at a conference, and then the audience and the panel is stuck there for a couple of hours trying to figure out how they're going to make it right.
I'm a generally congenial person. But those of you who might have experienced being in a course with me also know that I have an edge. An edge that likes to manifest in verbal brutality when one of the following happens:
1) someone is lying
2) someone is wasting everyone's time
3) someone is rude
When those things happen it's all I can do not to go off like a Roman candle and give them a piece of my mind! But I've gotten better at controlling those urges. Unfortunately one of the places my intellectual rage is welcome is at conferences, where two people going head to head on a specialized subject is among the best dreams an academic can experience. In that environment, a hastily-worded question can devolve a roundtable into a very hostile, very long mess.
Most panel discussions I've witnessed are pretty passive events. A few get a little heated. But rare is the panel that started off simmering and then sustains fire for hours. My tips for avoiding this in the future:
1) if things get bad, and you can get out, LEAVE
2) feel out the situation and keep your mouth shut once things start to really head downhill
3) decompress afterward, either with people who were part of the discussion who are as shell-shocked as you, or with people who weren't there
4) make a note of the people involved in the intellectual skirmish for future reference
5) anticipate the response to your question. I failed here, and in doing so, really failed everyone in the room by throwing my verbal brandy in the fire pail.
As it was, we emerged mostly unscathed, and toddled over to recover over coffee and donuts while just staring at each other, eyes wide. Now that I've had a few days to think about it, I am able to chalk it up as a learning experience entitled How Not to Run a Panel.
I'm a generally congenial person. But those of you who might have experienced being in a course with me also know that I have an edge. An edge that likes to manifest in verbal brutality when one of the following happens:
1) someone is lying
2) someone is wasting everyone's time
3) someone is rude
When those things happen it's all I can do not to go off like a Roman candle and give them a piece of my mind! But I've gotten better at controlling those urges. Unfortunately one of the places my intellectual rage is welcome is at conferences, where two people going head to head on a specialized subject is among the best dreams an academic can experience. In that environment, a hastily-worded question can devolve a roundtable into a very hostile, very long mess.
Most panel discussions I've witnessed are pretty passive events. A few get a little heated. But rare is the panel that started off simmering and then sustains fire for hours. My tips for avoiding this in the future:
1) if things get bad, and you can get out, LEAVE
2) feel out the situation and keep your mouth shut once things start to really head downhill
3) decompress afterward, either with people who were part of the discussion who are as shell-shocked as you, or with people who weren't there
4) make a note of the people involved in the intellectual skirmish for future reference
5) anticipate the response to your question. I failed here, and in doing so, really failed everyone in the room by throwing my verbal brandy in the fire pail.
As it was, we emerged mostly unscathed, and toddled over to recover over coffee and donuts while just staring at each other, eyes wide. Now that I've had a few days to think about it, I am able to chalk it up as a learning experience entitled How Not to Run a Panel.
Monday, January 10, 2011
AHA: The Haps
So I promised I'd be live-blogging from the AHA. Turns out, internet was shockingly difficult to come by. So instead, I'll be breaking with the historians' tradition and will be posting achronologically. My experience has been that conferences tend to be a collection of distinct adventures rather than one continuous event In that spirit, I'll be back-posting some of the highlights, after I attempt carefully to remove identifying information.
For those unaware, the annual conference is held in a number of hotels. They need a few because several thousand people register. The location is chosen years in advance, and so those thousands of people flock to a different city every year, yet always dressed remarkably the same. Once there, a variety of panels, meetings, round-tables, ceremonies, receptions, and presentations await people. After four days of this, all historians go to bed for several days.
And so, here we go! Check back in the next few days for the rundown! Or scroll through last year's accounts, posted last January.
For those unaware, the annual conference is held in a number of hotels. They need a few because several thousand people register. The location is chosen years in advance, and so those thousands of people flock to a different city every year, yet always dressed remarkably the same. Once there, a variety of panels, meetings, round-tables, ceremonies, receptions, and presentations await people. After four days of this, all historians go to bed for several days.
And so, here we go! Check back in the next few days for the rundown! Or scroll through last year's accounts, posted last January.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Days 4 and 5, the Rewind
Day 4. Our main objectives were 1) to support fellow grad student Chris, who was presenting a paper, and 2) to attend a soiree thrown in honor of AHA president Laurel Thatcher Ulrich in the evening. We did achieve both, and managed to squeeze in a little pool time. And a margarita.
Day 5, we did zero conference-related stuff. We had still not made it out to the beach, so Sarah's very nice, also-grad-student friend Emily drove us to Mission Beach, where we had a delicious brunch and walked along the pier. I felt mildly guilty about skipping those panels, until I went skipping around in the surf of the Pacific ocean. Then I just felt great.
Now I'm at the airport, wearing a sweatshirt in anticipation of northeastern coldness. I think the conference, and the time spent in San Diego, was very successful. Once I recover from this late-night flight I'll be posting a series of supplementary articles, including "How to Spot an Academic" and "Socializing with Grad Students: A Field Guide".
Day 5, we did zero conference-related stuff. We had still not made it out to the beach, so Sarah's very nice, also-grad-student friend Emily drove us to Mission Beach, where we had a delicious brunch and walked along the pier. I felt mildly guilty about skipping those panels, until I went skipping around in the surf of the Pacific ocean. Then I just felt great.
Now I'm at the airport, wearing a sweatshirt in anticipation of northeastern coldness. I think the conference, and the time spent in San Diego, was very successful. Once I recover from this late-night flight I'll be posting a series of supplementary articles, including "How to Spot an Academic" and "Socializing with Grad Students: A Field Guide".
Day 4, and 5: On the Way!
The posts for Saturday and today, Sunday, will be uploaded tonight during my inevitable long wait at the airport. Right now, we're going to the beach! But don't worry, fun stories about historians at social events are coming soon.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Day 3: We're Totally Wrecked
These multi-day conferences can destroy you.
So the conference is in beautiful San Diego. That's lovely, but we were still hustling this morning to get to our 9:30 panels. I went to the second session of "Slaving Paths", which turned out to be all about slaves in the British imperial structure. I was pleased with the outcome. After the panel Sarah, Jen, Jordan, and I enjoyed a delicious sushi lunch. We should have ordered sake, though, because my afternoon panel was a disaster. I was really looking forward to this panel on suffering and martyrdom in colonial North America, but it turned into an apology-filled ideology fest. I was sorely disappointed and trudged off to the Exhibition Hall.
The Exhibition Hall is every historian's dream, because it is chock-full of books AND boasts the only free liquor giveaway in the whole shebang. I bumped into Gil Kelly, my supervisor from the Omohundro Institute, and he took me on a tour of Institute authors, all of which were very impressive. It was nice to see the Institute staff outside of their natural habitat.
We finished up perusing the books and headed for Seaport Village for pizza, where we devoured a pie and a pitcher of beer while gazing out into the sunset over the water. We then hustled back to the conference for a graduate student social event, which I affectionately termed "The Graduate Student Friendliness Seminar". We met some nice people, made quick work of the chicken satay, and ran back to the hotel for a bit of rest.
Even though the conference continues until Sunday, I really think that tomorrow is something of the grand finale, so we shall have to see. Now it is time for a nap so we can reboot for ... more history!
So the conference is in beautiful San Diego. That's lovely, but we were still hustling this morning to get to our 9:30 panels. I went to the second session of "Slaving Paths", which turned out to be all about slaves in the British imperial structure. I was pleased with the outcome. After the panel Sarah, Jen, Jordan, and I enjoyed a delicious sushi lunch. We should have ordered sake, though, because my afternoon panel was a disaster. I was really looking forward to this panel on suffering and martyrdom in colonial North America, but it turned into an apology-filled ideology fest. I was sorely disappointed and trudged off to the Exhibition Hall.
The Exhibition Hall is every historian's dream, because it is chock-full of books AND boasts the only free liquor giveaway in the whole shebang. I bumped into Gil Kelly, my supervisor from the Omohundro Institute, and he took me on a tour of Institute authors, all of which were very impressive. It was nice to see the Institute staff outside of their natural habitat.
We finished up perusing the books and headed for Seaport Village for pizza, where we devoured a pie and a pitcher of beer while gazing out into the sunset over the water. We then hustled back to the conference for a graduate student social event, which I affectionately termed "The Graduate Student Friendliness Seminar". We met some nice people, made quick work of the chicken satay, and ran back to the hotel for a bit of rest.
Even though the conference continues until Sunday, I really think that tomorrow is something of the grand finale, so we shall have to see. Now it is time for a nap so we can reboot for ... more history!
Day 2, Part 2: Historians Look Like Debaters!
I’m having some flashbacks here. "The entire Harvard history department is about to run a tight case, with tons of spec knowledge!".
Turns out the “Musical Encounters in the Early Atlantic” was literally just as it sounded (hee hee!). I think in my head I was picturing the worst-case scenario, some kind of historical interpretation of “The Little Mermaid”, where Triton = England. Instead it was all about how soundscape was an important part of Atlantic encounters. An interesting and lively way to wrap up the first day. Also, fun fact of the day: Karen Kupperman apparently once sang “Frere Jacque” on national television. See, I promised you historians some ridiculous gossip!
Tomorrow is an all-day conference adventure beginning at 9:30 am. We are hoping to get a quick sushi lunch in the hour we have off during the afternoon. Sadly the hot tub will have to wait until 9:00 pm.
More updates to follow. It is 2:15 am New Hampshire time and 11:15 here; either way, time for sleep!
Turns out the “Musical Encounters in the Early Atlantic” was literally just as it sounded (hee hee!). I think in my head I was picturing the worst-case scenario, some kind of historical interpretation of “The Little Mermaid”, where Triton = England. Instead it was all about how soundscape was an important part of Atlantic encounters. An interesting and lively way to wrap up the first day. Also, fun fact of the day: Karen Kupperman apparently once sang “Frere Jacque” on national television. See, I promised you historians some ridiculous gossip!
Tomorrow is an all-day conference adventure beginning at 9:30 am. We are hoping to get a quick sushi lunch in the hour we have off during the afternoon. Sadly the hot tub will have to wait until 9:00 pm.
More updates to follow. It is 2:15 am New Hampshire time and 11:15 here; either way, time for sleep!
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Day 2, Part 1: Getting the Party Started
It was pretty great to wake up to the sunrise on the harbor. Of course we woke up at the crack of dawn, confused about where we were and what time it was. Fortunately our hotel offers a coffee bar, so we only had to stumble down there in order to come alive.
San Diego is a fantastic place to host a conference, and apparently people know it, because we’ve already encountered people from at least 5 different events. The place is literally packed with people wearing identification badges. We took advantage of a lull in the schedule to lounge at the pool. An outdoor pool – in January! We decided that we will never leave.
When we went to register for the conference, we were met by a slew of historians who were being herded into a room, where they (an anonymous conference staff) put badges on us and handed us a stack of papers and programs. We went to a session entitled “An Empire in Transit: The British Empire, 1780–1880”, which was interesting despite the fact that I know nothing about the nineteenth century. Also, it turns out that the Marriott has a grotto pool. I wonder if we can wear our bathing suits under our conference attire?
Tonight we head back to the conference for the opening remarks, which, strangely, occur after the conference has begun. After the opening remarks we will be treated to an exploratory musical extravaganza, something called “Musical Encounters in the Early Atlantic”. What, in fact, does that entail? I’ll let you know tomorrow morning!
San Diego is a fantastic place to host a conference, and apparently people know it, because we’ve already encountered people from at least 5 different events. The place is literally packed with people wearing identification badges. We took advantage of a lull in the schedule to lounge at the pool. An outdoor pool – in January! We decided that we will never leave.
When we went to register for the conference, we were met by a slew of historians who were being herded into a room, where they (an anonymous conference staff) put badges on us and handed us a stack of papers and programs. We went to a session entitled “An Empire in Transit: The British Empire, 1780–1880”, which was interesting despite the fact that I know nothing about the nineteenth century. Also, it turns out that the Marriott has a grotto pool. I wonder if we can wear our bathing suits under our conference attire?
Tonight we head back to the conference for the opening remarks, which, strangely, occur after the conference has begun. After the opening remarks we will be treated to an exploratory musical extravaganza, something called “Musical Encounters in the Early Atlantic”. What, in fact, does that entail? I’ll let you know tomorrow morning!
Day 1, Part 2: A Whale of a Time
In an unfortunate turn of events, internet is not free in our hotel. Boo! So I will update as frequently as I can escape to a place with internet.
I emerged from the plane, wrestled my giant carry-on bag to the shuttle stand, and met some very nice people headed to the AHA. Statistically, many of the people around me are historians, and I just don’t know it. In the coming days, I hope to meet at least a handful of them.
Jordan and Jen had already arrived in San Diego, and invited me to go whale-watching with them. After scurrying to the hotel, dropping off bags, and zooming off in a taxi to the seaport, I boarded the Hornblower Adventure in search of Pacific Gray Whales, which Californians insist on calling California Gray Whales.
We had a very excellent time. We saw three whales in addition to many Pacific white-sided dolphins, sea lions, cormorants, brown pelicans, and many more seabirds. If I didn’t get to do any more touristy things in San Diego, I would still be content.
We then proceeded to eat delicious barbeque. In the evening, my hotel roommate Sarah arrived, and we went to bed at 10:00. Our bodies are clearly not adjusted to the new time zone. In the morning we’ll have some time to wander around before the conference gets going at 3. Stay tuned!
I emerged from the plane, wrestled my giant carry-on bag to the shuttle stand, and met some very nice people headed to the AHA. Statistically, many of the people around me are historians, and I just don’t know it. In the coming days, I hope to meet at least a handful of them.
Jordan and Jen had already arrived in San Diego, and invited me to go whale-watching with them. After scurrying to the hotel, dropping off bags, and zooming off in a taxi to the seaport, I boarded the Hornblower Adventure in search of Pacific Gray Whales, which Californians insist on calling California Gray Whales.
We had a very excellent time. We saw three whales in addition to many Pacific white-sided dolphins, sea lions, cormorants, brown pelicans, and many more seabirds. If I didn’t get to do any more touristy things in San Diego, I would still be content.
We then proceeded to eat delicious barbeque. In the evening, my hotel roommate Sarah arrived, and we went to bed at 10:00. Our bodies are clearly not adjusted to the new time zone. In the morning we’ll have some time to wander around before the conference gets going at 3. Stay tuned!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Day 1, Part 1: Stayin' Alive (in the airport)
Good morning! I am writing this from the airport. JetBlue, a seriously awesome airline, provides free wireless in its terminal at Kennedy. The terminal also has Jamba Juice, so I am pretty happy right now.
I was not, however, happy about 20 minutes ago, as I battled my way to the front of the security screening line in what looked like a scene from "300".
I'd heard some horror stories about new screening procedures, between the thwarted Christmas Day underpants attack and the guy who walked through the sterile gate at Newark. So I left my house at 5:00 am for an 8:30 flight. When I arrived at the security line, it was already madness. People who had arrived two hours before their flight were still stuck in the line, and were nearing hysteria. Meanwhile, it looked like nobody was actually getting through the checkpoint. We all stood there for a good ten minutes before somebody came to shuffle up the lines.
Then, it completely degenerated. People will usually stay in lines, if that's the clear expectation. Once they started taking down the ropes, it became a cattle drive, only with really vicious cows.
Miraculously, I was pushed to the front by two very strong and angry men behind me, who were attempting to make their 6:30 flight to Jamaica (it was 6:20 at this point). Once there, the TSA worker demanded that I remove my sweatshirt, and didn't seem to understand that if I did this, I might be arrested for public indecency. Finally a rational person behind the x-ray machine arranged a pat-down for all the sweatshirted people, which we found much preferable to being forced to put on a show for the gazillion people in "line" behind us.
The actual screening looked the same to me, so I can't really explain the insane delay. When my items rolled out the other side of the machine, though, someone else's jacket and belt were in with my shoes. As far as I could tell, the workers were unable to locate the man, who will now be cold and have trouble holding up his pants. The good news is, somebody else will be able to purchase the jacket and belt, along with other stuff, at this place.
One hour until boarding. Time to stock up on Jamba Juice!
I was not, however, happy about 20 minutes ago, as I battled my way to the front of the security screening line in what looked like a scene from "300".
I'd heard some horror stories about new screening procedures, between the thwarted Christmas Day underpants attack and the guy who walked through the sterile gate at Newark. So I left my house at 5:00 am for an 8:30 flight. When I arrived at the security line, it was already madness. People who had arrived two hours before their flight were still stuck in the line, and were nearing hysteria. Meanwhile, it looked like nobody was actually getting through the checkpoint. We all stood there for a good ten minutes before somebody came to shuffle up the lines.
Then, it completely degenerated. People will usually stay in lines, if that's the clear expectation. Once they started taking down the ropes, it became a cattle drive, only with really vicious cows.
Miraculously, I was pushed to the front by two very strong and angry men behind me, who were attempting to make their 6:30 flight to Jamaica (it was 6:20 at this point). Once there, the TSA worker demanded that I remove my sweatshirt, and didn't seem to understand that if I did this, I might be arrested for public indecency. Finally a rational person behind the x-ray machine arranged a pat-down for all the sweatshirted people, which we found much preferable to being forced to put on a show for the gazillion people in "line" behind us.
The actual screening looked the same to me, so I can't really explain the insane delay. When my items rolled out the other side of the machine, though, someone else's jacket and belt were in with my shoes. As far as I could tell, the workers were unable to locate the man, who will now be cold and have trouble holding up his pants. The good news is, somebody else will be able to purchase the jacket and belt, along with other stuff, at this place.
One hour until boarding. Time to stock up on Jamba Juice!
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
AHA-Bound
Happy New Year, all!
Just a reminder that I am headed to the American Historical Association Annual Meeting, held in wonderfully not-freezing San Diego. The conference is January 7-10, and I will be live-blogging as much as possible. At the very least you can expect a nightly update, though pictures will have to wait until I return to my trusty desktop.
The AHA Annual Meeting's theme is Oceans, Islands, Continents, all things I enjoy. For those who may be interested in perusing the program, it can be found here. I'm going to try to rope my fellow graduate student attendees into reporting, so between all of our eyes, nothing will be missed!
Professional conferences are funny things, shrouded in mystery. I was recently asked, "What do historians have to say to each other that they need to have a three-day-long conference?". Hopefully by the predawn hours of Monday morning, I will have the answer to that, along with many fun and fascinating anecdotes. Stay tuned!
Just a reminder that I am headed to the American Historical Association Annual Meeting, held in wonderfully not-freezing San Diego. The conference is January 7-10, and I will be live-blogging as much as possible. At the very least you can expect a nightly update, though pictures will have to wait until I return to my trusty desktop.
The AHA Annual Meeting's theme is Oceans, Islands, Continents, all things I enjoy. For those who may be interested in perusing the program, it can be found here. I'm going to try to rope my fellow graduate student attendees into reporting, so between all of our eyes, nothing will be missed!
Professional conferences are funny things, shrouded in mystery. I was recently asked, "What do historians have to say to each other that they need to have a three-day-long conference?". Hopefully by the predawn hours of Monday morning, I will have the answer to that, along with many fun and fascinating anecdotes. Stay tuned!
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