I’m going to let you in on a “secret”. Scientific conferences aren’t actually about science. Because you’re a good little scientist, you already know about all the latest advances in your field (because you do the reading (well, you download the papers and read the abstracts at least)) so the talks don’t say anything new. You should go to the talks that aren’t directly related to your field to expand your knowledge – but everyone just uses these sessions to check their e-mail (or draft blog posts). You haven’t actually seen your supervisor at a session, except the one that he chaired.
It is really all about “networking”. That translates to beer drinking if you are a student, or wine drinking, if you are an academic. The established academics pat each other on the back, complain about their useless students and plan future, unrealistic collaborations while charging expensive dinners to their grant credit cards. Students drink beer, complain about their useless supervisors and talk about anything but science, while trying to find the cheapest restaurant in town.
Figure 1: An integral part of the scientific process
Of course, this is important because success in science depends more on who cowrote your paper than what is actually on it. And I’m not complaining – I had a lovely time “networking” over a few beers this week, and made some valuable connections. However, on the last day, we didn’t exchange e-mail addresses or phone numbers, but all became friends on facebook.
Now, while I’m not an avid facebooker, and keep my profile free of drunken photos, annoying applications and inappropriate comments, it still reflects me in a relaxed, social sense, not in a professional or scientific way. So, is it entirely appropriate for us, in an early stage of our careers, to be using facebook as our main communication tool to our colleagues and future collaborators, referees and reviewers? Do they need to know what music I like, what my friends write on my wall or any of the useless status updates? Or, is making these networks less formal going to encourage more frequent and relaxed communication and collaboration in the future?
