11 ms·
The first online conference in the COVID era I attended opened my eyes to an enormous benefit: suddenly a lot of people from restofworld were attending. Yes, on
by brnt 2y ago
The first online conference in the COVID era I attended opened my eyes to an enormous benefit: suddenly a lot of people from restofworld were attending. Yes, online conferences are weird and everything except the lectures are hard to organize well or at all, but I think we shouldn't underestimate sharing with people we otherwise wouldn't share with. I kinda think it's a pity this seems to be over now.
- tkgally 2y agoThat was my reaction back in 2020, too. It was exciting to meet and talk with people from many different countries without leaving home. Now that I’m back to attending in-person conferences occasionally, I do appreciate the stronger personal connections that form there. However, though weaker, the connections I’ve made online over the past four years have been worth something, too, and they never would have happened if not for those online meetings.
- malshe 2y agoWe saw the benefit of moving online in academic conferences too. Often faculty from even developed countries do not have budgets to travel for conferences. For example, one professor from Italy told me that he had a travel budget of €400 per year. That would not even pay his conference registration for most conferences. The visa issue mentioned in the article is also quite real. Although the US visa is more difficult to get, it is usually for five to ten years for the citizens of most countries. In contrast, most European countries will issue Schengen visas for the duration of the conference! Online conferences avoid all these issues.