Conferences Work Better When Everyone Stays Home
I expected the coronavirus to ruin a scientific gathering earlier this month. Then I virtually showed up.
Try it. You’ll like it.
Photographer: Maki Nakamura/Digital VisionI’ve always found it distasteful that cooking shows present viewers with mouth-watering food that can’t be savored. Strangely enough, that thought was on my mind when I finally accepted that, due to the pandemic, an international scientific conference I was helping to organize would have to take place virtually. I believed that our event was doomed to become the academic analog of a cooking show — a pale shadow of the real experience.
A few months later, I’m delighted to have been proven wrong. If a traditional conference is like dining at a restaurant, then a well-organized virtual conference is like takeout — from a better and cheaper restaurant. Rather than falling prey to the coronavirus, conferences that have transitioned online are more vibrant than ever.