bento conference

Advice I would offer to those entering the profession: do not go to your main conference each year. There is reason to believe that many would welcome someone granting this permission. On the other hand, others might be startled to hear that the annual conference is not the be-all and end-all of career advancement. Decrying tradition is simple — offering a reasonable substitute is the challenge. After all, Dewey wrote in Experience & Education:

In short, the point I am making is that rejection of the philosophy and practice of traditional education [or conference] sets a new type of difficult educational problems for those who believe in the new type of education [or conference].

Having imagined that one might skip a year, the next step is knowing what should fill that void. To assuage guilt, my suggestion is to engage in a parallel experience. Those of us who have played hooky have done so by NOT doing what occurs during the formal conference. I worry that this outright rejection and defiance neglects the tangible benefits of being in conference mode. On an "off" year, individuals could still be conferencing even if they are not on-site. The idea is to put them in that mode by shutting themselves off from others during a Friday afternoon or even going to their campus office on a Saturday morning. My proposal is to create something tangible to assist this transition: a Conference-in-a-Box.

What I am imagining is an academic equivalent of a bento box. Inside would be a complete kit that would be artfully arranged. As you read through this list, you'll see I haven't worked this all the way through. If I were a graphic designer, I would build an online image wherein each compartment was a clickable link to the bulleted items. Or there would be a physical box that individuals could order online. I like the latter especialy with the idea that the participant would not actually dive in until the appointed time of their alt-conference. Below I list the components of a traditional conference with links to the substitutes.

• Conference Website: Although someone has already purchased rights to alt-conference.org one could secure alt-conference.net for a small fee. Or maybe just append it to an existing site. Not sure how this is done but it wouldn't seem to be an outrageous task.
  
• Keynote Speaker. I am tempted to provide a link to a Crossroads presentation. But instead, I believe some fresh alternative could be worthwhile: (a) minimally invasive education with Sugata Mitra, (b) the Harlem Children's Zone with Geoff Canada, and/or (c) algebra as a civil rights matter according to Bob Moses.
  
• Conference Banquet: The meal seems to be a signature of the annual conference. One could buy or make a device so you could see yourself within a large kaleidoscope -- creating the effecting of eating with others. And of course the meal would be included.
• Conference Pencil: Even though it might seem difficult to imagine five gross of golf pencils, the price per item makes it seem less than outrageous to include these in the box. And if you really wanted to wear a name badge, there has to be some of the cheap stick-on types in your department's office supply cabinet.

At this moment, I sense that an appropriate cycle would be two years on and one year off. Many logical reasons could be offered that would encourage people to not attend the annual conference: expense, time, ratio of wasted time (esp. travel) relative to benefits, carbon footprint, etc. My suspicion is that many go ahead and make the annual trek out of fear or obligation. Perhaps with the help of a modest fee and a modicum of legitimacy, the concept of an alt-conference would not only kick the big conference in the shins but would also provide the inspiration and support that would actually make a difference.

Is it too much to imagine creating a prototype by April 2009?