Hi Chris,
I believe your suggestions are very valuable.
However, they can be a complement to other ideas, not an opposition to
what I suggested. There are worthwhile conferences in Australia and
New Zealand, but unfortunately not at the same rate, scope or
broadness that you can find in Europe. Therefore, students not only
from Oceania, but also from Asia, Latin America, and in general
anywhere outside Europe or the USA need to travel to get such
exposure. The 'need to travel' comes from the conferences regulations
to only publish those papers that are presented at the conference. I
have worked at TU Delft, and even students from Europe struggle to
present their work at regional conferences.
Student conferences are all very well. However, it is also valuable
for students to compare their work with, receive feedback from, and
engage in debate with professionals and senior academics, not only
with other student peers. So students still need to get that exposure.
The main value of networking would not be undermined greatly, as I
suggested that only a small amount of papers could be put forward as
online presentations. Ten papers out of a couple of hundred would not
make such a difference for networking. Furthermore, electronic
technologies may allow for a much higher level of networking as more
people would be involved. Networking can also become an ongoing thing
for people comfortable with using such technologies, it does not need
to be a few days interaction during coffee breaks.
Finally, I am not saying that this is the only solution, but it is a
step for allowing more students (if only some) to publish, which is
what the thread topic was enquiring.
Best regards,
edgrrr
On Sun, Apr 6, 2008 at 10:50 AM, Chris Rust <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I sympathise with this but it undermines the main value of networking and I
> think we need to be more creative.
--
edgar rodriguez
lecturer
industrial designer, phd candidate
school of design, victoria university of wellington
po box 600, wellington
new zealand
office: +64 (0)4 463 6245
mobile: +64 (0)21 0561515
|