Long live the status quo

About a week ago, I reluctantly had to tell the organisers of the sessions on Deaf Geographies at the AAG 2012 that I wouldn’t be able to attend. The cost of the conference (£200) plus the flights (£400 + tax) plus accommodation (++?) means that, although it’s a subject that I’m passionate about, I just couldn’t justify the expense.

Then I heard that it might be possible to sign up and then ‘find that I couldn’t go any more’ and send in my submission on film… so I signed up.

I’ve just heard that the AAG don’t allow pre-recorded presentations, and that there is no way to webcast into the proceedings.

So, having paid my sign-up, I now have to work out whether to lose some of that, and revert to the original plan, or whether to try and get there anyway.

But doesn’t it seem ironic that the world’s biggest geography conference – full of people who will be utterly committed to the preservation of the planet and the reduction of carbon footprints – require me to fly to New York to present?

The only justification I can see for that kind of approach is that it’s more important to run the AAG annual meeting with the prestige and funding that it generates, than it is to commit to innovate new approaches to conferences and pioneer them in the field that appears to be most relevant.

Next year, I shall go to the AAG, and deliver a paper on Greening Events – http://greeningevents.ilrt.bris.ac.uk/

Or perhaps I will offer an abstract in the form of a letter that explains why I have unexpectedly not turned up to present my paper – for the sake of the planet.

Until then… Long live the status quo!