Dear all,
Gisele wrote:
--snip--
This is our attempt to make our conferences available to more people. Of
course there is more to be explored (e.g. people being able to contribute
to the conference from elsewhere). Moreover I still agree with Chris Rust
that the experience of attending the meeting, the network and informal
exchange of ideas is the main benefit. Unfortunately it can be an
unaffordable cost for some people.
--snip--
I welcome the attempts to extend conference 'experiences' to
cyberspace for those unable to attend in person, and I would like to
add that the 'cost', particularly if you do not live in Europe,
extends to a moral and ethical unaffordability for some. This is
particularly true for students (mature and youthful, and often
women), who are commonly outside the institutional funding
frameworks. This becomes 'costly' through the suspension/loss (of
money, time and focus) in professional work, young dependent
families, casual teaching commitment and valuable study time to
attend, for a few days, conferences in exotic and wonderful places,
for the indulgent and exhilarating luxury of meeting, debating,
promoting, assessing design research with like-minded academics. And
that is without considering the energy expended in applying and
arguing for funds from cash-strapped and accountancy-focused
institutions. Paradoxically, it is often through actual attendance,
presentation of papers and subsequent publishing opportunities, that
these 'costs' become reduced. So non-attendance may be accounted as a
'cost' too.
Weighing these 'costs' is more often what makes attendance
'unaffordable' for some. Still, I live in hope, and in the meantime,
will follow the published links as I can.
warm regards, teena
--
Teena Clerke
PO Box 1090
Strawberry Hills NSW 2012
0414 502 648
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