ASHE 2010

I saw some good and some bad at ASHE this year. I'm getting better at picking sessions, so there wasn't as much bad except

• The presenter who read from notes.
• The presenter who gave a great presentation … and then gave it again the next day in a different session.
• The discussant who spent a good five minutes describing his/her background and research interests.

The symposium I was a part of was the last session of the last day, in the farthest away room in the hotel, and a lot of folks leave before the end of the conference. We didn't expect much of a turnout, in other words, but I at least was pleasantly surprised. It ended up being pretty good.

There was also some movement on the job front, which I won't detail here.

As usual, I caught up with colleagues from across the country. Not as usual, since ASHE was in Indianapolis, I returned to the scene of the crime and saw some old haunts and old acquaintances. I also made my usual spontaneous book purchases (50% off all JHUP books on the last day) - I picked up this and this.

We also recepted ("going to receptions" isn't quite adequate). Receptions at ASHE aren't as fabu as those at AERA, because they're all at the same hotel. That means each school has either the canapes or the desserts, but the same assortment at each. Penn and Vandy reliably have open bars, Michigan gives away logo gear, and Iowa has music and dancing. If you ever want to crash ASHE, casually drop those tidbits into conversation, and no one will catch on to your outsider status.