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Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Boycott APA Hotel, and more
Here's a petition calling philosophers who will be attending the Pacific APA meetings to boycott the hotel.
But why not boycott the APA while we're at it? They've proved their uselessness again and again.
9 comments:
Anonymous
said...
Yes, APA serves little useful function. Obviously it is still the central venue for the job market, but it doesn't have to be. I have a job, and I'd not be upset if the APA disappeared.
Why don't they hold the big meeting in December somewhere on the West Coast where it might be warm and sunny? Why don't they hold a meeting on the East Coast in the early fall? Why don't they just hold two annual meetings?
7:57, there are two pretty good reasons not to have the December meetings in LA or San Diego or whatever. First, it's relatively expensive, at least compared to Philadelphia or DC. Second, there are a lot more philosophers in the East, and the December meetings are mandatory for a lot of people.
I'm told they once looked into doing it in Miami Beach and couldn't get a decent price. (And considering the price of the NY hotel this year, that must have been one breathtaking price tag.)
I don't understand why do they keep arranging the meetings at that fucking exclusive and fucking expensive Saint Francis Hotel? That hotel had many previous problems with the union, problems that resulted in partially moving the APA cite to USF in 2005. So, 2005 was not enough of a lesson? Aren't there, like, other hotels in the wider Bay Area? Ridiculous.
There is also, unfortunately, a good reason not to move the Eastern Division meeting to a different time of year: no one can agree on an alternative.
All,
I agree that the current system has a lot of problems, but I've never understood why people think that the APA staff are "jackasses" or that the "APA serves little useful function."
The APA compiles and publishes the definitive list of job openings in philosophy. That's not irreplaceable, I suppose. We could rely on the Chronicle, Inside Higher Ed, etc., but I personally have found JFP more useful than those alternatives.
The APA also organizes three very large conferences every year. Are the conferences flawless? No. But organizing those conferences takes a lot of work. I doubt that would be done as well—or maybe at all—without them.
If you don't care about the APA conferences or the job market, then I can see why you don't care about the APA. But if that's the case, no one's forcing you to join the APA.
to Anon. 9:14 pm: The APA-Pacific has a policy of only meeting at unionized hotels. All the big unionized hotels in San Francisco are either under boycott or threat of boycott, so there was no alternative in San Francisco that could accommodate a meeting of that size.
I am with Anon March 4, 2010 10:15 AM. The APA needs an overhaul - and better participation from its members. Still, it does a lot of good work for philosophers and philosophy that no one else is doing.
If we do not like its operations, we should step up and work for change.
The meeting sites for the years ahead have just been posted at the APA web stie. Though not so much the Pacific ones.
Interesting choices.
Easterns: 2010 Boston (as we already knew) 2011 DC, Wardman Park Marriott 2012 Atlanta 2013 Baltimore
Centrals: 2011 Minneapolis 2012 Palmer House 2013 New Orleans 2014 Palmer House
One interesting fact is that the two Palmer House meetings are again in February.
I'd say both lists include compromises: some members really love meeting at the Palmer House, no matter the weather; and some really wish we could meet in Atlanta and Baltimore because of the easy flights and cheaper rates. My preferences run the other way -- I'm looking forward to Wardman Park (assuming nobody sets any fires), New Orleans, and Minneapolis (even though it's apt to be pretty chilly on 3/31). So, something for everyone... and something for everyone to dislike, too.
"I'm told they once looked into doing it in Miami Beach and couldn't get a decent price. (And considering the price of the NY hotel this year, that must have been one breathtaking price tag.)"
This is decisive proof they are idiots. *Of course* Miami Beach is absurdly expensive. Miami Beach is basically a tourist trap that promises rich college students and Europeans fruity drinks, sexy people in bathing suits, and drugs. Everything is outrageously expensive because its all designed to tear money out of the hands of the the idiotically wealthy so that clever people (who are mostly immigrants from impoverished nations) can make a living. It's all brilliant but obviously not the ideal place to have a conference.
Miami Beach is also a distinct city from the *actual city* of Miami. There's a reason us Miamians keep all that crap on a small island across a 6-7 mile bridge from the actual city. Things in the actual city are substantially less expensive. Plus, there's a disgustingly massive metropolitan area containing another actual city less than 20 miles away (Ft. Lauderdale) where there are lots of nice inexpensive hotels and suburban nice spots to hold such a conference.
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9 comments:
Yes, APA serves little useful function. Obviously it is still the central venue for the job market, but it doesn't have to be. I have a job, and I'd not be upset if the APA disappeared.
Why don't they hold the big meeting in December somewhere on the West Coast where it might be warm and sunny? Why don't they hold a meeting on the East Coast in the early fall? Why don't they just hold two annual meetings?
Is the answer to all, because they're jackasses?
7:57, there are two pretty good reasons not to have the December meetings in LA or San Diego or whatever. First, it's relatively expensive, at least compared to Philadelphia or DC. Second, there are a lot more philosophers in the East, and the December meetings are mandatory for a lot of people.
I'm told they once looked into doing it in Miami Beach and couldn't get a decent price. (And considering the price of the NY hotel this year, that must have been one breathtaking price tag.)
I don't understand why do they keep arranging the meetings at that fucking exclusive and fucking expensive Saint Francis Hotel? That hotel had many previous problems with the union, problems that resulted in partially moving the APA cite to USF in 2005. So, 2005 was not enough of a lesson? Aren't there, like, other hotels in the wider Bay Area? Ridiculous.
7:57,
There is also, unfortunately, a good reason not to move the Eastern Division meeting to a different time of year: no one can agree on an alternative.
All,
I agree that the current system has a lot of problems, but I've never understood why people think that the APA staff are "jackasses" or that the "APA serves little useful function."
The APA compiles and publishes the definitive list of job openings in philosophy. That's not irreplaceable, I suppose. We could rely on the Chronicle, Inside Higher Ed, etc., but I personally have found JFP more useful than those alternatives.
The APA also organizes three very large conferences every year. Are the conferences flawless? No. But organizing those conferences takes a lot of work. I doubt that would be done as well—or maybe at all—without them.
If you don't care about the APA conferences or the job market, then I can see why you don't care about the APA. But if that's the case, no one's forcing you to join the APA.
to Anon. 9:14 pm: The APA-Pacific has a policy of only meeting at unionized hotels. All the big unionized hotels in San Francisco are either under boycott or threat of boycott, so there was no alternative in San Francisco that could accommodate a meeting of that size.
I am with Anon March 4, 2010 10:15 AM. The APA needs an overhaul - and better participation from its members. Still, it does a lot of good work for philosophers and philosophy that no one else is doing.
If we do not like its operations, we should step up and work for change.
The meeting sites for the years ahead have just been posted at the APA web stie. Though not so much the Pacific ones.
Interesting choices.
Easterns:
2010 Boston (as we already knew)
2011 DC, Wardman Park Marriott
2012 Atlanta
2013 Baltimore
Centrals:
2011 Minneapolis
2012 Palmer House
2013 New Orleans
2014 Palmer House
One interesting fact is that the two Palmer House meetings are again in February.
I'd say both lists include compromises: some members really love meeting at the Palmer House, no matter the weather; and some really wish we could meet in Atlanta and Baltimore because of the easy flights and cheaper rates. My preferences run the other way -- I'm looking forward to Wardman Park (assuming nobody sets any fires), New Orleans, and Minneapolis (even though it's apt to be pretty chilly on 3/31). So, something for everyone... and something for everyone to dislike, too.
"I'm told they once looked into doing it in Miami Beach and couldn't get a decent price. (And considering the price of the NY hotel this year, that must have been one breathtaking price tag.)"
This is decisive proof they are idiots. *Of course* Miami Beach is absurdly expensive. Miami Beach is basically a tourist trap that promises rich college students and Europeans fruity drinks, sexy people in bathing suits, and drugs. Everything is outrageously expensive because its all designed to tear money out of the hands of the the idiotically wealthy so that clever people (who are mostly immigrants from impoverished nations) can make a living. It's all brilliant but obviously not the ideal place to have a conference.
Miami Beach is also a distinct city from the *actual city* of Miami. There's a reason us Miamians keep all that crap on a small island across a 6-7 mile bridge from the actual city. Things in the actual city are substantially less expensive. Plus, there's a disgustingly massive metropolitan area containing another actual city less than 20 miles away (Ft. Lauderdale) where there are lots of nice inexpensive hotels and suburban nice spots to hold such a conference.
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