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Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Pacific APA
I'd be pleased to receive reports from those at the Pacific APA. Gloomy? OK? How many academic publishers are at the Book Display? Is there any interviewing going on? How's the situation with the conference hotel? And so on.
Feel free to share.
11 comments:
Pre-Gloomy
said...
In my second airport on the way to the APA, my computer is getting confused by all the different public wireless signals it's been asked to handle. Not an auspicious beginning.
Complementary wine reception in my hotel lobby just as I arrive. Things are looking up. I haven't been to the St. Francis yet, though. Rumour has it that things are ugly there.
On the first day, there was a sizable and loud group of picketers outside the Westin, facing Union Square. Workers inside the Westin were directing folks to use the side doors and seemed to be trying very hard to pretend that the protesters were not there. (So, you could enter and exit the Westin without crossing the picket line, but one might feel like a dirtbag doing so.) The chants, drums, and whistles of the protesters could be heard from most meeting rooms. This is a disaster, in my opinion. I heard nothing about how things were at USF.
Getting to USF is definitely a pain--took well over 30 minutes by bus each way. Fortunately it wasn't raining too hard while I was waiting for the bus on the way back. Attendance wasn't so great yesterday. Maybe it'll pick up the rest of the week, but I'm definitely not making the trek back and forth again.
Slunk in side door to avoid picket lines. Attended a number of sessions -- only stinker was my own. Slunk back out side door mid-afternoon and returned to cheap non-boycotted hotel to nap (still nursing hangover/ sleep deprivation). Read Leiter's April fool's blog post -- feel that by itself is sufficient punishment for my cowardice.
The lobby of the Westin does not have a lot of loungey seating so there isn't a lot of hanging out going on. Attendance at the sessions I've been to has been pretty low. Maybe I have bad taste. The APA still uses nametags that fasten by safety pin. Why?
What's the deal with USF? Actually, I'm right by San Francisco at the moment but can't see why I'd go to this meeting, so I'm clueless what these references to USF mean.
Apparently, gloomy is in the eye of the beholder...at the check-in tables on Wednesday, the hotel had put out a lavish spread of goodies (chips, snack bars, fruit, sodas, wine, etc.). Sessions typically are sparsely attended in SF because (a) there are so many concurrent sessions, and (b) everybody is competing with the city.
Noisy demonstrations Wednesday and Thursday, but nothing on Friday. People mainly used the side entrance. The main gathering spot at the St. Francis is the bar area with lots of seating in the back of the hotel by registration and that seemed as busy as ever.
Some public announcements at the annual business meeting Friday: *The number of book exhibitors hasn't dropped, but they are buying fewer tables *Registration numbers won't be known until the meeting is completed, as many register on-site. Typically San Francisco draws 20% more attendance than the other Pacific cities. *Pacific is exploring the addition of poster sessions, possibly as early as the 2011 San Diego meeting. *The executive committee approved a $1000 request from the University of San Francisco (USF) site organizers to cover their expenses for snacks, etc. *The times and days of the sessions at the alternative USF site were distributed in a flyer everyone got at registration at the St. Francis. *Pacific will only schedule future meetings in San Francisco when there is a firm labor contract in place at the time of the meetings. Portland and Seattle are being explored for upcoming meetings.
I had a good time presenting at USF-- the folks there were friendly and everything was well run. There was some confusion over why we were there, though. Apparently, the idea was that all presenters had to independently confirm a move to the USF site, but on my own panel, I think that only myself and a few others did so. That was unfortunate: I got my preference, but it ended up legislating for others in ways that inconvenienced them.
The USF department members (and their student volunteers) were generous hosts. They more than came through on their end.
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11 comments:
In my second airport on the way to the APA, my computer is getting confused by all the different public wireless signals it's been asked to handle. Not an auspicious beginning.
Complementary wine reception in my hotel lobby just as I arrive. Things are looking up. I haven't been to the St. Francis yet, though. Rumour has it that things are ugly there.
Ugly how? Oh well, I'll find out eventually. I'm stranded in airport reading an email from my commentator who is stranded in a different airport.
On the first day, there was a sizable and loud group of picketers outside the Westin, facing Union Square. Workers inside the Westin were directing folks to use the side doors and seemed to be trying very hard to pretend that the protesters were not there. (So, you could enter and exit the Westin without crossing the picket line, but one might feel like a dirtbag doing so.) The chants, drums, and whistles of the protesters could be heard from most meeting rooms. This is a disaster, in my opinion. I heard nothing about how things were at USF.
In two sessions I attended yesterday, one could hear protesters over the speaker.
Getting to USF is definitely a pain--took well over 30 minutes by bus each way. Fortunately it wasn't raining too hard while I was waiting for the bus on the way back. Attendance wasn't so great yesterday. Maybe it'll pick up the rest of the week, but I'm definitely not making the trek back and forth again.
Slunk in side door to avoid picket lines. Attended a number of sessions -- only stinker was my own. Slunk back out side door mid-afternoon and returned to cheap non-boycotted hotel to nap (still nursing hangover/ sleep deprivation). Read Leiter's April fool's blog post -- feel that by itself is sufficient punishment for my cowardice.
The lobby of the Westin does not have a lot of loungey seating so there isn't a lot of hanging out going on. Attendance at the sessions I've been to has been pretty low. Maybe I have bad taste. The APA still uses nametags that fasten by safety pin. Why?
What's the deal with USF? Actually, I'm right by San Francisco at the moment but can't see why I'd go to this meeting, so I'm clueless what these references to USF mean.
Apparently, gloomy is in the eye of the beholder...at the check-in tables on Wednesday, the hotel had put out a lavish spread of goodies (chips, snack bars, fruit, sodas, wine, etc.). Sessions typically are sparsely attended in SF because (a) there are so many concurrent sessions, and (b) everybody is competing with the city.
Noisy demonstrations Wednesday and Thursday, but nothing on Friday. People mainly used the side entrance. The main gathering spot at the St. Francis is the bar area with lots of seating in the back of the hotel by registration and that seemed as busy as ever.
Some public announcements at the annual business meeting Friday:
*The number of book exhibitors hasn't dropped, but they are buying fewer tables
*Registration numbers won't be known until the meeting is completed, as many register on-site. Typically San Francisco draws 20% more attendance than the other Pacific cities.
*Pacific is exploring the addition of poster sessions, possibly as early as the 2011 San Diego meeting.
*The executive committee approved a $1000 request from the University of San Francisco (USF) site organizers to cover their expenses for snacks, etc.
*The times and days of the sessions at the alternative USF site were distributed in a flyer everyone got at registration at the St. Francis.
*Pacific will only schedule future meetings in San Francisco when there is a firm labor contract in place at the time of the meetings. Portland and Seattle are being explored for upcoming meetings.
I had a good time presenting at USF-- the folks there were friendly and everything was well run. There was some confusion over why we were there, though. Apparently, the idea was that all presenters had to independently confirm a move to the USF site, but on my own panel, I think that only myself and a few others did so. That was unfortunate: I got my preference, but it ended up legislating for others in ways that inconvenienced them.
The USF department members (and their student volunteers) were generous hosts. They more than came through on their end.
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