Dusting off the blog...

Hi everyone, and happy nondenominational winter holiday! I count myself an atheist and yet I still find this whole peace on earth/goodwill toward humankind thing pretty worthwhile. Anyhow, it's been over a year since any of us have posted here and I thought it might be nice to inject a little life into the old group blog. And so, today I want to talk about the AAG Annual Meeting.

I am attending the meeting this March (Vegas, baby, Vegas! -- in truth I'm almost dreading the location) and there's part of me that is happy about this. Last year's meeting in Boston was overwhelming but inspiring. Our faithful gang here came away with some excellent ideas for collaborative projects (which haven't come to pass yet -- but I am convinced that they will eventually), energized, jazzed up, ready to make our collective mark on the geographical community.

And yet, there has been some criticism of the meetings -- criticism that I think is well deserved. In a recent commentary in Environment and Planning A, James McCarthy at Penn State has argued that the Annual Meeting is out of control: too many presenters are spreading themselves too thin across too many commitments, driving down the quality of presentations. Add to this the confusion at splitting the conference across three hotels as it was last year, the lack of a review process for abstracts and sessions, and the pressure placed on younger (pre-tenure) faculty members and graduate students to perform, and on reflection what was inspiring (if exhausting) last time around becomes absolutely daunting.

Last time around I was a master's candidate. I was quite happy with the paper that I put together and the presentation itself (and I think my then-adviser was as well). But it feels in retrospect like there was less riding on it. It was fun. It was snazzy. Very few students in my department at the time (a terminal MA program) were attending the meeting, much less presenting there.

This time around, it's a different story. I'm a doctoral student. I have to start thinking ahead: how is this going to look on my CV? Will anyone get anything worthwhile out of my presentation? Will I make a complete fool of myself in front of people who might be on a hiring committee considering my application in a few years? Is this whole one presentation this year enough for someone who wants a good job down the line? Should I start putting together a session for the DC meeting right after Vegas?

But really, the most important question of all, is will I be too shy to ask questions and network? Will I have the confidence to ask for a business card? To buy someone a drink? To get my name out there?

Not just daunting, but downright scary.

Until then, I'll be pondering these questions. Expect a few more posts in the meantime.