When accessibility becomes problematic for the average man in the street
then perhaps growth needs to be addressed by re design such that
accessibility is restored. I am familiar with conferences big and small. I
have presented papers at most of them. I have never seen prices so
unaffordable. While I think that an international meeting is ok I am not
sure it serves the need for regular, relativly local accessible
conferences-are we looking for exchange of information or fun for jet
setters?
I appreciate all the work. I have volunteered for these things.
Remember always that the basic needs of information exchange can be very
minimal. They are not currently. Work back from there.
Conrad
-----Original Message-----
From: Nichole Sorensen Mutchie
Sent: Tuesday, January 17, 2012 9:34 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: SHA Conference Early Registration Ends Tomorrow
As a member of the local conference committee for the 2012 conference, I'm
going to give my two cents and hopefully put this conversation to rest.
Conrad, it seems you are comparing the international SHA conference to a
regional conference such as the Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference
where there is indeed a significant difference in price, venue, distance to
travel, and the overall conference activities. Both are great conferences
and organizations, but this is like comparing apples to oranges. First of
all, SHA has grown by leaps and bounds, therefore a large convention space
is needed to accommodate 1300 attendees. A "cut rate roadside motel" isn't
going to cut it anymore. The "bags of junk" and many of the so called frills
were donated. Since you are local, there were many opportunities to
volunteer before and the conference and you could have attended the entire
conference for free. This year, we had many volunteers who were not
students.
Also, people do not write the conference off on their taxes, only if they
make a monetary or silent auction donation. I'm not going to carry on any
further but if you'd like to REALLY see what the cost, man hours, and effort
it takes is to put on a conference of this magnitude, join the local
committee for the DC conference in 2016. If you want to discuss it further,
contact the SHA business office at [log in to unmask] They set the prices of the
conference.
Nichole
Nichole E. Sorensen-Mutchie, M.S, RPA
Archaeologist
Maryland State Highway Administration
707 N. Calvert Street, CLL-4
Baltimore, MD 21202
410-545-8793 (phone)
410-209-5046 (fax)
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