Academic conferences: Can it be fun too?

I attended the annual conference of iCHRIE (International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education) Summer Conference in Orlando, FL in July/August. It was an annual event where a group of hospitality professors and graduate students get together to showcase their research and network with one another.

It was nice catching up with other scholars and friends in the conference, but honestly, I don't feel people are very excited about the conference. Reasons may include:

Most researchers receive no incentives for conference proceedings.

Not all presentations are interesting; some are very boring.

Too much emphasis is put on theoretical contributions rather than meaningful practical impacts.

Networking events only take place within the conference hotel and lack of opportunities to explore the destination.

I then wonder what will be the remedies. Will it help by providing more training in public speaking to the presenters? How about offering a variety of networking events in different venues? Can we ask our own hospitality professionals or the experts in event management to help us plan some fun activities? What do you think?

Visit MultiBriefs.com to read more of my in-depth discussion.

#Academic #Conference #EventManagement #EventPlanning #MultiBriefs #Blog #Hospitality #Tourism #CHRIE

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