It's certainly thrilling to be in the room with some of my heroes, and there are definitely speakers whose work I'd never know about otherwise. Eli Claire is magnetic (I had the great luck to see him three times in a calendar year).
On the other hand, there's lots of swordfights-with-CVs as the academics establish dominance. Much much eyerolling and "all the cool kids sit together." First time (2000) I was struck at the lousy accommodations on offer; last time (2014) things were much better yet some holes.
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It's certainly thrilling to be in the room with some of my heroes, and there are definitely speakers whose work I'd never know about otherwise. Eli Claire is magnetic (I had the great luck to see him three times in a calendar year).
On the other hand, there's lots of swordfights-with-CVs as the academics establish dominance. Much much eyerolling and "all the cool kids sit together." First time (2000) I was struck at the lousy accommodations on offer; last time (2014) things were much better yet some holes.