Sunday 2 December 2007

Conference over!

The last internationals have been safely seen onto airplanes and the rented glassware has been returned to Dan Murphy's, now all that remains is to figure out by how much the budget got blown, write the thank you letters, (most important) return the LTU stage banners to Marketing (I was very firmly told when I borrowed these that if I lost or damaged them in any way I would never work again in this town, ironic really considering that my contract expired on Friday and I'm out of a job now anyway, LOLOLOLOL ;D) and ha ha, start working on collecting the conference procedings and turning them into a book.

And blogging about it. Very necessary.

Where shall I start?

First of all I really want to make public gestures of blogospheric thanks and praise Sophie, Pav, and Alexis for creating one of the highlight sessions of the conference. It was absolutely perfect. With no disrespect at all to everybody else and their excellent contributions, their session was seamless, unimpeachably intelligent, and spoke to everybody present. I think it's fair to say that it was the only session (with one exception possibly) which successfully did that. The others were either mainly for the academic or for the enthusiast audience, not really for both. I know it was hugely appreciated.

Also: it was really great to see so many people I've met through this blog at the lecture on Wednesday night. Really. Thanks for coming.

Next: what do you want to hear about? The options before you do not actually include any further commentary on the content of the papers given. No, this will instead be one of those vigorously-scorned reports on 'the process of going to the conference, not the content of the conference itself' (a reference which is topical but I do hope obscure) So what shall I start on? My 4am meltdown and the resultant massive programming debacle? My 2pm meltdown and the resultant arrival on the scene of Dorian, in a work car, ready and willing to help me however he could? Meeting GG? The producer from ACA who rang me 3/4 hour before GG's lecture? How I came to learn how to use a mobile telephone? The person who emailed at 6.30pm the night before her sesison was scheduled to say she was in (a foreign land) and couldn't do her paper after all? Or what about the still bafflingly inexplicable Italian woman? The photographer from the Good Weekend?




16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, definitely "The producer from ACA who rang me 3/4 hour before GG's lecture"! is there going to be a segment on ACA?!?! And the bafflingly inexplicable Italian woman (Maybe she was Camille Paglia? Not many people can understand a word she says.)

Obviously, my mind is in the gutter, and you should take suggestions from some erudite and edumacated people also.

Meredith Jones said...

I'd like to hear about it all please, especially meeting GG.

Anonymous said...

Akshally, I know this is a bit of a tangent, and I really want to hear heaps about the conference, but what do you think of the new BBC Jane Eyre?

GS said...

All of the above please!

Mindy said...

Cue Queen:

I want it all
I want it all
I want it all
And I want it ... nooooowwww!

Martin Kingsley said...

I vote for...ALL OF IT AND CAKE, NOW.

Err, I mean, yes, please!

Anonymous said...

All of the above, please, and then in your free time please finish those Tommy posts.


Boris

Tim said...

The gossip in me wants to hear more about the ACA producer and you meeting GG. But I'd be happy to hear more about the conference, although I'm already annoyed that I missed it having read Helen's excellent post about GG's lecture.

Alexis, Baron von Harlot said...

You, Lucy J. Tartan, are a bloody marvel. I hope you're sleeping the sleep of the victorious now (in between banner returnings).

Ann ODyne said...

Laura, your experience sounds a bit like those bride's who can hardly remember The Big Wedding because they were in the Eye Of The Production-Storm for the whole dramatic day.

Helen's Dr.Greer post at Blogger On A Cast Iron Balcony was great, and Health & Other Rants posted on being there too - I am so envious and off to Pavlov's for another helping ...

Zoe said...

Any chance of a pony?

genevieve said...

Helen has a post at Return to Surfdom too, on TEH HIVEMIND and daughters, and Pamela Bone (among other things.)

Bit sorry I didn't get to Sophie and KG and Alexis' session now.
Congratulations Laura, clever clever socks. I hope you have a very languorous and restorative weekend. (And I hope the job situation resolves itself promptly.)

genevieve said...

Oh Faaark, my brain is broken and it's only Monday.
Road ROAD ROAD to Surfdom (alleyway? cote du chez Tim D.?)
here,
http://www.roadtosurfdom.com/2007/12/02/girl-germs-at-the-capitol/

Mel said...

I want the dark underbelly of journalism, please. (ie ACA and Good Weekend.)

Ampersand Duck said...

[waving hand to and fro with cigarette lighter]

Welcome back,
Your dreams were your ticket out.

Welcome back,
To that same old place that you laughed about.

Well the names have all changed since you hung around,
But those dreams have remained and they're turned around.

Who'd have thought they'd lead ya (Who'd have thought they'd lead ya)
Here where we need ya (Here where we need ya)

Yeah we tease him a lot cause we've hot him on the spot, welcome back,
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.


[*sniff*]

Ampersand Duck said...

(I kept that awful typo deliberately)