I went to no less that three different conferences this week, and presented (with varying degrees of formality and preparation) at each of them.
Overall, I’d say that the experience was less than stellar. Having to context-switch so much meant that I didn’t really get “into” any of the individual events, and still managed to get basically nothing done around the office. Since I was somewhat-actively participating, I didn’t even manage to grab many photos, despite lugging the D200 around all week.
So, what would I change going forward?
First, attending conferences here in Portland is convenient, but that doesn’t mean they’re without cost, either in time or mental bandwidth. Trying to stack three of them back-to-back was just not a good idea.
Second, it would be helpful to have a more focused agenda for what talks, sessions, and groups I try to participate with. Historically, I’ve been a pretty serious generalist when it came to technology, and while that’s helped me bridge a lot of disciplines and projects, it’s also kept me from really being involved in the “meat and potatoes” work in any of them.
Finally, I’m beginning to think that my future may lie in the non-profit, rather than higher education, sector. There pace of innovation and change in the academic market just isn’t the same as in the rest of the world, but serving the progressive non-profit sector would still let me sleep at night.
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