tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post7251885723270016808..comments2023-12-23T04:56:29.702-05:00Comments on Ferule & Fescue: GEMCS 2009Flaviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-81783136224591349882009-10-26T17:20:48.744-04:002009-10-26T17:20:48.744-04:00Actually, G-Fav, this conference has already been ...Actually, G-Fav, this conference has already been to San Antonio, and thrived there. (What can I say? GEMCS is a novelty-coonskin-cap kind of conference, and I mean that in the good way.)<br /><br />Flavia, it was delightful seeing your panel, which was startlingly good. And I believe I witnessed your public display as well, at which I enjoyed a not-entirely-well-considered chuckle.Doctor Clevelandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07326408523926507003noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-80788643729096410562009-10-26T12:46:49.139-04:002009-10-26T12:46:49.139-04:00It's true -- Dallas is not a great place for a...It's true -- Dallas is not a great place for a conference, mainly because the hotels are downtown, where almost no Dallas life takes place. Still, judging the city by what goes on downtown is like staying in the Madrid-Barajas airport hotel (something I've done) and thinking that Madrid is an industrial wasteland with nothing to do based on what's in the immediate vicinity of the hotel. I can't imagine even attending a conference at, say, Columbia University and not at some point taking a cab or subway to see something interesting. <br /><br />That said, although most of Dallas is only accessible by car and the cabs are truly expensive, the arts district is reachable by foot, and the Uptown-West Village area is reachable by DART light rail and by a free trolley that starts downtown. Knox Henderson, which has great restaurants and good shopping (if you like antiques and the like), is reachable by bus.ihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14105686105741162480noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-21130312855611777022009-10-26T12:29:17.989-04:002009-10-26T12:29:17.989-04:00Watch it, Flavia! Constructive criticism usually ...Watch it, Flavia! Constructive criticism usually leads to one being nominated for a seat on the organizing committee!<br /><br />-g<br /><br />ps You're lucky it wasn't in San Antonio, the city of humidity and mold. We've returned to hotel rooms with puddles of water on horizontal surfaces.G-Favhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14474787912488750916noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-62436453244378024762009-10-26T12:12:42.941-04:002009-10-26T12:12:42.941-04:00Perhaps "fun" is not a direct result of ...Perhaps "fun" is not a direct result of "organized in an extremely orderly fashion." :)<br /><br />captcha: 'coutchi'srcnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-4121736293055671882009-10-26T11:28:57.911-04:002009-10-26T11:28:57.911-04:00Anon: indeed, the registration booth had been aban...Anon: indeed, the registration booth had been abandoned well before four p.m. on the first day, according to Cosimo. (And on subsequent days the staffers kept failing to give friends of mine registration packets, or drink tickets, and the like.)<br /><br />It was catastrophically organized. How it always winds up being so much fun is a mystery.Flaviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17832765671541392835noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-22243130995901958032009-10-26T10:11:52.643-04:002009-10-26T10:11:52.643-04:00I was at GEMCS, too, and was most irritated that I...I was at GEMCS, too, and was most irritated that I didn't even get an evaluation so that I could request that the conference never be held in Dallas again. (I typed "Dallass" twice, which indicates my feelings on the city -- I also went to SAA 2008 and did not find the city improved over the past 18 months. But then I refused for budgetary reasons to do anything outside of walking distance.)<br /><br />The panels were great -- even the TERRIBLE organization couldn't hurt that. But my God, when my travel companion and I went to register on Thursday at 4:30 -- half an hour before registration was supposed to close -- and the only thing waiting for us was a flyer with those convoluted directions to the opening reception? I was annoyed. We did not go to the reception, incidentally, *because* of those directions.<br /><br />The program was posted unconscionably late -- so late that plane fares had gone up by the time we could buy them; the program itself was impossible to read because it was not formatted at all; the registration booth wasn't staffed when it was supposed to be; Dallas is a terrible city for a conference; and yet GEMCS was great, in spite of all that. Oh, GEMCS. I'll still make passé references to <i>Brokeback Mountain</i> about you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27054305.post-15430692995729194302009-10-26T09:52:39.614-04:002009-10-26T09:52:39.614-04:00I'm really glad you guys had a good conference...I'm really glad you guys had a good conference travel together - you know I'm a fan of you both individually and as a team! And it sounds like you made the best of Dallas that you possibly could - hell, lady - you deserve kudos even for that!<br /><br />But I'm glad it went well!medieval womanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00457130525946143002noreply@blogger.com