I'm not speaking on behalf of the AoIR 2006 conference organising committee, but I personally think that it is unfair of you to position this initiative in direct competition with official AoIR conference events such as the conference dinner. The more people are expected to attend a conference dinner, the less it will cost to stage it per person and the more diverse and rewarding the experience will be.
Maybe unfair, maybe not. As a non-attendee of 7.0, I'd like to speak to this in another way. If the (as noted, not inexpensive) conference dinners aren't self-sustaining, or if they are "too expensive" for the exec's budgetary tastes when not everyone attends - they should simply be discontinued. Events like "AOIRcamp" should be encouraged - I'd much rather sit around and eat triscuits or cheese nips with other researchers and "talk shop" than feel trapped by a catering crew's idea of what a dinner should be like - and how people should behave. Competition is a sign that people enjoy the AoIR audience, but don't necessarily agree with the way that things are being implemented. This is, above all, a sign that the community is *healthy*, and should be celebrated! --elijah
On 22/08/2006, at 6:05 AM, "Kevin Lim" <injulim@buffalo.edu> wrote:
What is AOIRcamp? This free social event is meant as an alternative to the other conference events (e.g. $42 conference dinner).