SfN right hand…meet SfN left hand.
August 12, 2009
The official Facebook page* for the Society for Neuroscience has an interesting update/wall entry.
Interested in blogging at Neuroscience 2009? Give it some thought. SfN will post application instructions on the Neuroscience 2009 Web site later this month.
Interesting until you remember that the wifi coverage at your typical SfN meeting is poor in the presentation rooms and completely absent on the poster floors. Some of the vendors manage to have internet and even the odd wifi spot so clearly the capability is there.
I will note that this is maddening to those of us who do some of our poster browsing ad hoc, instead of making up comprehensive itineraries in advance. Also, to those of us who want to be able to quickly check PubMed or an abstract from a previous day, or…. Dammit, we need wifi at scientific meetings, yo!
I have it on reasonably good authority that as recently as the past couple of weeks SfN was insisting that no internet would be made available on the poster floor (this person was requesting it for a poster presentation).
So what’s it going to be SfN? Do you want blogging of the meeting? Good wifi is the price of doing business.
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*if you are on Facebook and a SfN member do me a favor would you? Go over to that wall update and tell ’em to get wifi working for the meeting?
DrugMonkey 
August 12, 2009 at 8:13 am
Why not get a notebook with integrated Turbo 3G like we have over here? Unlimited data plans for 11USD/mo or less if you want to sacrifice speed.
I still don’t understand why the MacBook or MacBookPro don’t have this an integrated 3g modem 😦
The US needs to seriously catch up.
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August 12, 2009 at 10:46 am
As I understand it, wifi is deliberately blocked from the exhibit hall at most major meetings, and that’s usually where the posters are presented. The idea is that there’s a lot of exhibitors who want an internet connection to show off their wares, and hence, there’s a lot of money to be made from charging for that access. The lack of wifi for attendees at the posters is just collateral damage from that.
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August 12, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Do we live in the goddamn dark ages. I think wifi should be a consideration when picking venues for major conferences. People are blogging, emailing back to the lab lists of potential collaborations they saw before they forget, staying in contact with the lab, vendors are showing off their wares. I once gave an oral talk at a conference where I got stuck in a room with no powerpoint projector, the hotel didn’t have one installed in the room. I got saddled with a fucking overhead projector and some transparencies. Can see chalk talk. I survived but serious consideration needs to be given to amenities of the venues.
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August 12, 2009 at 3:00 pm
We’re also looking for meeting bloggers at The NeuroNetwork (not just for SfN):
http://theneuronetwork.com/profiles/blogs/looking-for-live-bloggers
Anyone blogging for us in an “official” capacity is welcome to use the internet at our booth at SfN.
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August 12, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Ann would you be willing to divulge what extra charge, if any, SfN levies for internet access on the vendor floor?
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August 13, 2009 at 1:51 pm
I am not aware of what the charges are, but they are levied by an outside company, presumably one associated with the conference hall itself.
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