I'd like to throw a very practical issue into the RGS-IBG pot that's
being brought to the boil; equally important to the very real
academic issues that this year's event brought into sharp focus
(big plenaries vs the rest of us, RGS vs IBG, etc).
Due to the fact that I was on maternity leave when registering for
the conference, I was too late to book any creche facilities, and
when I eventually rang I was told there had been no demand for it
and so no facility was on offer. However when I ended up having to
rapporteur at the end of my session complete with baby on one
arm, I was subsequently swamped by people who said they had
asked for facilities but none had been on offer. The fact that I was
fighting to get everywhere with a buggy also made it clear to me
how awkward disabled access was, and in fact other conference
delegates spoke to me about this as they saw me struggle.
In this day and age there is no excuse for such poor facilites at
such a large conference. The BSA have apparently been running a
successful and popular creche for years at their annual conference -
so why can't we?
Sara
Dr Sara MacKian
Lecturer in Human Geography
School of Geography
Mansfield Cooper Building
University of Manchester
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
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http://www.art.man.ac.uk/Geog/staff/sm.htm
Tel 0161 275 3619
Fax 0161 275 7878
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