We’re getting a chance to test out the virtual science conference of the future.
Or not.
This week is the annual American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. For the last 10 years or so I’ve jumped on a flight from Detroit to San Francisco, and stayed with friends, while bus-commuting to Moscone Center to bump shoulders with 25,000 other attendees at this, the world’s largest Science conference. AGU is like Burning Man for scientists, and the atmosphere is pretty electric, with that many smart people all in one space.
You get to meet your peers and your heroes, walk up to them, ask questions, and share beers. The chance encounters in the hallways are a constant serendipitous parade.
For me, AGU is the opportunity to do sit-down interviews with a range of researchers that is unparalleled, and serves as years of raw material for video stories.
This Covid year it’s all virtual, and there’s a lot that’s good about it. But can it completely replace the face-to-face conference experience?