Comments on: The Good in Oral Culture, or How Could Conferences be Cool? http://www.openjournalmontreal.com/the-good-in-oral-cultre-or-how-could-conferences-be-cool/ Sun, 15 Aug 2010 19:51:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: risa http://www.openjournalmontreal.com/the-good-in-oral-cultre-or-how-could-conferences-be-cool/comment-page-1/#comment-648 risa Tue, 21 Feb 2006 15:33:38 +0000 http://open.touchbasic.com/journal/?p=130#comment-648 here's a great great story about a freewheeling conference style: <a href="http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-6041377.html?part=rss&tag=6041377&subj=news" rel="nofollow">http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-6041377.html?part=rss&tag=6041377&subj=news</a> here’s a great great story about a freewheeling conference style: http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-6041377.html?part=rss&tag=6041377&subj=news

]]> By: risa http://www.openjournalmontreal.com/the-good-in-oral-cultre-or-how-could-conferences-be-cool/comment-page-1/#comment-105 risa Sun, 23 Oct 2005 02:07:57 +0000 http://open.touchbasic.com/journal/?p=130#comment-105 confrences should also include talent shows. there should be a large central cozy place with a semi organized open mic every night. i picture a place with levels and couches. this is a rant about public, communal space and how awesome it is, I guess. confrences should also include talent shows. there should be a large central cozy place with a semi organized open mic every night. i picture a place with levels and couches. this is a rant about public, communal space and how awesome it is, I guess.

]]> By: Christian http://www.openjournalmontreal.com/the-good-in-oral-cultre-or-how-could-conferences-be-cool/comment-page-1/#comment-102 Christian Sat, 22 Oct 2005 05:25:35 +0000 http://open.touchbasic.com/journal/?p=130#comment-102 true dat. conferences, such as the CSSH, are epitomized by their highs and lows. i have concluded that i won't be returning to the learneds unless i am on panel with academics or am on an incredibly apposite panel designed with colleagues. you see, the sad fact of the matter is that academia is hierarchically striated and either you find a way to pierce into those collectivities or you'll have to be comfortable remaining on the margins. however, if you do pierce into those collectivities... if you engage with a sawchuk or the like, you can hit some really incredible intellectual highs. be sharp-ended. on the topic of conference citizenship... i believe it really important to offer the following advice. when presenting at a conference, be pragmatic. which is to say, heed the context. first, if you are on panel of political economy analyses, it is probably not the right context within which to give full-blown exegesis on heidegger's concept of 'stimmung'. trust me, i have seen this. i am not saying avoid heidegger if he suits your fancy, but what i am saying is find a more appropriate context. because otherwise, you are, in some sense, speaking into the air. second, do not condescend or make excuses for yourself. if you are giving a talk on gregory bateson and his 'ultra' complicated theories of Cybernetics--do not preface or digress with comments like "he is so incredibly complicated that i don't think there is anyway for me to explain his thought in the next 15 minutes." first off, buddy, one will always get lost in a field. pick a concept and an object of inquiry and apply, challenge or create. don't waste 30 seconds telling how you are bound to fail. next, it is important to consider how condescending such phrases can be. i know this sounds like a rant, but i think that these are considerations that could make your fifteen (i am not big fan of anything under 20) minutes of fame more enjoyable for you and everyone involved. (dedicated to 'r' the person i was supposed to do recombinant theory with... this is kinda along those lines. true dat. conferences, such as the CSSH, are epitomized by their highs and lows. i have concluded that i won’t be returning to the learneds unless i am on panel with academics or am on an incredibly apposite panel designed with colleagues. you see, the sad fact of the matter is that academia is hierarchically striated and either you find a way to pierce into those collectivities or you’ll have to be comfortable remaining on the margins. however, if you do pierce into those collectivities… if you engage with a sawchuk or the like, you can hit some really incredible intellectual highs. be sharp-ended.

on the topic of conference citizenship… i believe it really important to offer the following advice. when presenting at a conference, be pragmatic. which is to say, heed the context. first, if you are on panel of political economy analyses, it is probably not the right context within which to give full-blown exegesis on heidegger’s concept of ‘stimmung’. trust me, i have seen this. i am not saying avoid heidegger if he suits your fancy, but what i am saying is find a more appropriate context. because otherwise, you are, in some sense, speaking into the air. second, do not condescend or make excuses for yourself. if you are giving a talk on gregory bateson and his ‘ultra’ complicated theories of Cybernetics–do not preface or digress with comments like “he is so incredibly complicated that i don’t think there is anyway for me to explain his thought in the next 15 minutes.” first off, buddy, one will always get lost in a field. pick a concept and an object of inquiry and apply, challenge or create. don’t waste 30 seconds telling how you are bound to fail. next, it is important to consider how condescending such phrases can be.

i know this sounds like a rant, but i think that these are considerations that could make your fifteen (i am not big fan of anything under 20) minutes of fame more enjoyable for you and everyone involved.

(dedicated to ‘r’ the person i was supposed to do recombinant theory with… this is kinda along those lines.

]]> By: elran http://www.openjournalmontreal.com/the-good-in-oral-cultre-or-how-could-conferences-be-cool/comment-page-1/#comment-78 elran Sat, 24 Sep 2005 19:42:42 +0000 http://open.touchbasic.com/journal/?p=130#comment-78 <a href="http://designconference.aiga.org/" rel="nofollow">This conference</a> asked attendees to draw their thought on a sketchbook while the talks were going on, and then tape their pictures up on a communal wall for everyone to observe. you can see a few of these conference sketches on <a href="http://www.kottke.org/05/09/conference-sketches" rel="nofollow">kottke.org</a> This conference asked attendees to draw their thought on a sketchbook while the talks were going on, and then tape their pictures up on a communal wall for everyone to observe.

you can see a few of these conference sketches on kottke.org

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