The First Annual Philosophers' Cocoon Conference (PCPC) just concluded, and I'm happy to report that it was a wonderful conference: great people, excellent talks, fun discussion, and an awesome, supportive environment! I'd like to thank everyone involved for helping to make it what it was -- specifically (and in no particular order):
- Michael Pressman (USC)
- Myisha Cherry (John Jay College)
- Erin Taylor (Cornell)
- Anthony Reeves (SUNY-Binghamton)
- Karina Vold (McGill)
- Joshua Mugg (York University)
- Martin Vacek (Slovak Academy of Sciences)
- Jonah Goldwater (University of South Florida)
- Moti Mizrahi (St. John's University)
- David Morrow (University of Alabama at Birmingham)
- Omri Ben-Zvi (Hebrew University of Jerusalem Law School)
- Nathan Hanna (Drexel)
- Casey Doyle (Pitt)
- Monica Link (Tufts)
- Andrew Y. Lee (NYU)
- Christopher Tomaszewski (UConn-Storrs)
- David Pena-Guzman (Emory)
- Stephen Bero (USC)
- Griffin Klemick (Northern Illinois)
- Jason Chen (St. Louis University)
- Jiewuh Song (Goethe University Frankfurt)
- Dan Threet (Georgetown)
It was a pleasure to meet and spend the weekend talking philosophy with all of you! Travel safely, and I hope to see you next year at the 2nd Annual event. For those of you who weren't here, here are just a few pictures of the fun you missed (sadly, I forgot to take pictures of dinner and drink festivities) -- and don't forget to keep an eye out for the CFP for next year's conference!
Yeah, following Marcus's post I must just agree. We all had a great time and I hope we meet next year. Great job Marcus!
Posted by: Martin Vacek | 10/20/2013 at 05:05 PM
Great work, Marcus, and it's nice to see how relaxed the atmosphere looks like.
May I ask you for more details? E.g., how good did the skype presentations worked (we have been thinking about allowing them in our Coffee Break Conferences for a long time, but always refuted to, due to the fact that they seem to make lively discussions less easy and smooth, especially after the skype-presenter's paper is over). And what about the two parallel sessions?
Congratulations again!
Posted by: elisa freschi | 10/21/2013 at 03:22 AM
Thanks Martin!
Elisa: thanks! I think the Skype presentations were *awesome*. Truth be told, I was super worried about how they would turn out before the conference (I was worried they were going to be disasters). But, honestly -- and surprisingly -- they worked like a charm! There were almost no technical issues (besides a word or two cutting out here or there), and the discussions really went on just like the person was there in the room. Honestly, I'm shocked at just how well it worked. The skype sessions really weren't substantially different than normal, in-person sessions.
In terms of the parallel sessions, I was a bit worried about that as well, as the conference was quite small. But, luckily, I think that turned out great as well. Although the sessions were small (anywhere between 5-12 persons present per session), the discussions were really lively and convivial, and I don't think anyone felt like the sessions were "too small." On the contrary, several people noted how much they liked it (it gave the sessions something of a "workshop" feel).
In one respect, I think it was probably better than having one session at a time. Sometimes if people are forced to sit through sessions outside their AOS, they get bored, tune-out, ask silly questions, etc. I think the M&E people thought it was cool to have an "M&E Room" and the ethics/political people found it cool to have a "Value Theory" room. Of course, these are mostly just my impressions, but the feedback I've received from participants coheres with them. Finally, I think there were enough people moving back and forth between the two rooms that it didn't feel like two separate groups of people. Everyone interacted and got along splendidly!
Posted by: Marcus Arvan | 10/21/2013 at 05:16 PM
Marcus, I am happy that everything worked so well. It came to my mind that I cannot remember how you organised the presentations. Was it 30' speech + discussant + open questions?
Posted by: Elisa Freschi | 10/22/2013 at 02:42 AM
Many thanks to Marcus for organizing a great conference! It's a ton of work to put a conference together, and you pulled it off beautifully, Marcus.
As a Skype presenter, I can attest that the Skype presentation worked very well from my perspective.
Posted by: David Morrow | 10/22/2013 at 01:11 PM
I'd like to join the heaping of praise on Marcus. Like David, I have participated via Skype without any problems at all. I hope that more philosophy conferences will add a Skype option for those who cannot attend in person.
Posted by: Moti Mizrahi | 10/22/2013 at 09:05 PM
David and Moti: Have you been able to participate also to some other parts of the conference beyond your single paper? If so, how did Marcus make it possible?
Posted by: elisa freschi | 10/23/2013 at 12:53 AM