Recuperating

Since returning from the conference in Atlanta on Saturday, I have spent the last two days recuperating. It was a great conference. Professionally I've gotten more out of this conference than any other. I co-authored three papers with graduate students and, thankfully, all three presentations went well. I'm very fortunate to work with ambitious, motivated, and talented graduate students. I also had a series of scheduled and ad hoc meetings regarding various research projects. And, most importantly, I capitalized on several networking opportunities. This has always been the most stressful part of conferences for me since I'd really much rather sit in my hotel room in front of my computer than schmooze with a bunch of unfamiliar academics. Yet as I am strategizing the tenure process, I realize more than ever how important it is for people in the field to know me and my work.

After several weeks of preparation and four very long days of conferencing, I am completely wiped out. I'm glad that it's a holiday week since that will give me some time to shore up energy for the end-of-the-semester push. I definitely have more to say about Atlanta in future posts and I may write more about the conference, depending on how much discretion I choose to exercise. (I am quite tempted to write a post about the top things you should NOT do at conferences. Seriously, sometimes the displays of bad behavior really astound me.)