No! You are missing the point.
Even if you had to exchange papers through the mail-it would accomplish 
information sharing-It can happen without conferencing
cell phone calls for most of us have no long distance fees

if you can do it without conference culture then we must do it that way-I 
don’t care who is paying- the money needs to go to fieldwork, jobs and our 
direct obligation  to the research-just divert it to the real needs.

Again and again- how many jobs could be funded if one big conference  was 
canceled? With every job funded more real work, not just talk, gets done!

are you unaware of the jobs being lost
look at the situation in canada recently -terrible
look at students who come out with BAs and no jobs
look at  cuts in conservation

sure conferences touchy feely fun face to face but you don’t need them-sort 
of like porn-feels good but not really good for anyone.....

they need the ax

Take the same money and put it toward  fieldwork, conservation, jobs

And I mean it- if you attend expensive conferences you should never use a 
single volunteer unless you pay for them to  go too.

This idea of archeologists whining about limited funds and cuts then jumping 
on a plane to England is dreadful! Unconscionable, inhumane.....
Think of those in need before you ever attend a conference and ask WHY!

More tools than ever for communication- pick up a phone, or skype  and 
communicate, use video conferencing if you want to see faces....send 
articles through the mail.

Archeology is a profession so get to it.....conferences are not necessary 
for communication AT ALL. So if it is a dedication to the profession and the 
resource and the
science- do science cut the conferences.

Conrad Bladey
Archeologist
Peasant



-----Original Message----- 
From: scarlett
Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 7:07 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Why YOU should come to SHA Quebec 2014

Conrad,

While someday in the future, there may be a communication technology that 
will allow 5,000 or 6,000 people to seamlessly interact in a virtual 
environment, that is not today.  Free programs (Skype) and costly programs 
(Adobe Connect Pro) are not able to handle that many people.  And it is 
important to understand that technology does not provide "free" 
communication.  Someone is paying for the high-speed web connection at your 
home or office, someone is paying for the bandwidth of the data 
transmission, someone is paying for the computer hardware you are using, 
your headphones, microphone, software, tech support, and so on.  Just moving 
to a digital environment will not usher in a utopian community.  There will 
still be winners and losers, such as age discrimination or technological 
literacy, and someone somewhere will pay for it all to happen. Many of us 
can't get our laptop to connect to a projector without calling for help from 
the audience. The tech support required to bri
ng off a virtual live conference of 5,000 people as an MMORPG (Massive 
Multi-Player Online Role Playing Game) would be formidable.

Maybe someday, but not today.

One could build it with short videos and online commentary and discussion, 
in the style of the TED conference. But that communication would lack all 
the additional social connectivity of real conference events. Maybe that's 
ok, but it is not a replacement for the conference experience.  Why not 
organize an event like the one you imagine?  See how it will work.  Try to 
transform the archaeological world by organized and collective action. 
Publish your work in open access journals, then promote those in places like 
HISTARCH. Help make those journals high-quality publications where people 
want to publish. In teacher's terms, "Show, don't tell."

I believe that archaeology is a profession, not a job.  We go to conferences 
because that is where we sit down together as a community. Few of us are 
paid to attend conferences, we are a poorly paid profession, and there has 
been a proliferation of conferences and events. The majority of us must pick 
and choose which events to attend. That's life.  I live in a very rural area 
with only one airline providing two flights a day to the nearby airport with 
a six or eight hour, one-way drive to the nearest city.  Attending my 
"local" state archaeology conference usually would require either a 10 or 12 
hour drive or a plane ticket and car rental, essentially costing me the same 
as attending a national meeting. That's the breaks of living where I 
live-which I love, by the way.

I also don't understand your critique of time and resources away from 
research.  The Quebec meeting is in January and is mostly on the weekend. 
The vast majority of archaeologists are not doing fieldwork in January (at 
least in the global north).  It requires a person to be away from their job 
for two or thee work days at most, which most people take as vacation time 
or sick-leave, so the unpaid trip has no bearing on the "cost to the client" 
anyway. Public tax resources don't pay for those meetings, attendees do. 
Traveling to present our research findings to our peers is a professional 
obligation, not a part of each individual job.

I have been an outspoken critic of inflated expenses at the SHA or other 
conferences, but I also cannot overstate the value of conference attendance 
for those trying to build their careers.  My advice has always been to 
attend and be frugal: share a room among eight people, eat peanut butter 
sandwiches instead of going out to breakfast, don't drink beer or wine at 
the hotel bar, get with other parents to form a hotel child-care 
cooperative, and so on.  Building networks with people to help share costs 
as a student creates networks that last over your professional lifetime.

I might add that social media has made the process of finding roommates or 
ride shares much, much easier. When we suggested facilitating this at the 
SHA during the 1990s, when we were students, the SHA board was horrified at 
the potential legal liabilities such a service would cause.  Social Media 
has made that concern evaporate. The UK meeting was an excellent example, 
where they were aggressively using social media to help link up needy 
travelers with each other and with local hosts.

My thoughts.
Cheers,
Tim Scarlett



On May 15, 2013, at 4:56 PM, sent wrote:

> Again sacrificing jobs and research for the feel good of human contact
> I cant see why this justifies such sacrifice.
> As you point out the job can be done with electronic communication
>
> We owe the public the most inexpensive solution and it has been 
> demonstrated that  traditional
> conferencing is the  most  expensive solution for doing the same thing- 
> communicating and discussing.
>
> If you want face to face discover free  good and easy  skype
>
> If you want to exhange papers and even co author  them use google docs
>
> for recreation and travel- well use your own money- or volunteer to do 
> archeology in a nice setting
>
> Easy
>
> Conrad Bladey
> Archeologist
> Peasant
>
> -----Original Message----- From: [log in to unmask]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 4:50 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Why YOU should come to SHA Quebec 2014
>
> I really have to weigh in here.  I know what it was like to attend
> virtually no conferences early in my career and what it is like to do at 
> least  two
> per year now (ACRA and SHA, sometimes SAA).  Both my business and my
> company's work has improved dramatically, with a lot of that due to face 
> to face
> interaction with people in the field.  I have picked up many innovative
> ideas, made many changes in the way that I do work and just became more
> enthused  with archaeology on a regular basis by attending and 
> participating (an
> important  component - giving papers, participating in symposia, doing
> posters, serving the  organizations on committees and as officers, etc. - 
> I was
> chair of the 1999 SHA  Conference in Salt Lake City).
>
> While I have not expected to generate new work from these attendances, it
> has happened over the years. I also have, no doubt, that there have  been
> projects we have done that have been the result of farther flung 
> connections
> made at conferences that I have no idea came from there.
>
> Electronic communication is wonderful and a great way to share specific
> information and keep in touch, but humans are humans.  There is no 
> substitute
> for person to person interaction, body language, interacting with 
> multiple
> people at once, experiencing the book room, personally interacting with
> people who create posters, the venue and city in which the conference is
> held. Getting to know archaeologists, historians, architectural historians 
> and
> others over the years has enhanced my understanding of and joy in the
> profession, made my work better, and generated friendships for my wife 
> (also an
> archaeologist) and myself  that I would not trade for all of  the 
> electronic
> communications available, hands down.
>
> Mike Polk
> Sagebrush Consultants, L.L.C.
> Ogden, Utah
>
>
> In a message dated 5/15/2013 2:05:07 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> Exactly  it is black and white that is why it is so important. We have 
> more
> ways to  promote interaction other than conferencing than ever in
> history-why
> are  we using this
> expensive method which takes jobs and detracts from our  ability to 
> address
> the research?
>
> Communication is communication-  all the things you mention can be
> generated
> by electronic  communication-its easy-
>
> It is like people are insisting that we put our  postal mail back on 
> horses
> and stage coaches because it feels better-  terrible foundation for the
> argument for   communication!
>
>
> Conrad  Bladey
> Archeologist
> Peasant
>
> -----Original Message----- From:  Kimberly Wooten
> Sent: Wednesday, May 15, 2013 2:36 PM
> To:  [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Why YOU should come to SHA Quebec  2014
>
> That's your black and white argument. I think the flip side being  that
> attendance at conferences generates new ideas, enthusiasm, and
> professional
> contacts, all of which lead to funding and preservation  opportunities, 
> and
> if I enjoy myself, regardless of the personal finical  decisions I make to
> attend a conference (locally or internationally), so  much the better. 
> VTCs
> are another option, happen frequently where I work,  and are often 
> employed
> in conjunction with professional meetings. The  point of my message was to
> be
> supportive of a peer charged with the task  of promoting an important
> conference. Kimberly
>
>
>
>> Date:  Wed, 15 May 2013 14:10:36 -0400
>> From: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: Why YOU should come to SHA Quebec 2014
>> To:  [log in to unmask]
>>
>> So the fun and travel is worth limiting  funding, employment and
> necessary
>> conservation and  fieldwork?
>>
>> Look into the many ways you can do really clear  visual and audio
>> conferencing-free
>>
>> Conrad
>>
>> Thank you in advance for your prompt  response!
>>
>>
>> On May 15, 2013, at 1:48 PM, Kimberly Wooten  <[log in to unmask]>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > Let me  try this again... As archaeologists, it is almost a given that
>> >  most of us are not living the high life. I admit it can be a financial
>
>> > strain on my family to attend a conference, but we choose to do  this;
> we
>> > can't always attend annually and are careful with those  meetings we do
>> > attend. The SHA meetings in York, England,  several years ago were
>> > wonderful and nothing can compare to  meeting people face-to-face,
> having
>> > my enthusiasm for my chosen  field renewed by this contact and some
>> > excellent presentations,  all wrapped in the bonus visiting beautiful
>> > places. Technology  has its important uses, but its limits as well. I
> for
>> > one, will  be happy to attend the meetings in Quebec City. Kimberly
>> >
>> >
>> >> Date: Wed, 15 May 2013 01:17:50 +0000
>> >>  From: [log in to unmask]
>> >> Subject: Why YOU should  come to SHA Quebec 2014
>> >> To: [log in to unmask]
>> >>
>> >> See the Society for Historical Archaeology’s latest  blog, “Why YOU
>> >> should come to Quebec in 2014”
>> >>
> http://www.sha.org/blog/index.php/2013/05/why-you-should-come-to-quebec-in-2014/
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> William  Moss
>> >> Conference Chair / 47th Conference on Historic and  Underwater
>> >> Archaeology
>> >> Président du Comité  organisateur / 47e Colloque sur l'archéologie
>> >> historique et  subaquatique
>> >>  www.sha2014.com<http://www.sha2014.com/>
>> >