Let me know if you know of any cool places to grab a bite to eat or any local scenes to take in as I head out there for a conference this weekend.
Archive for the 'Meetings' category
Herding cats...Committee Meetings
Its almost time for me to have another committee meeting again, and I usually dread this time. Not for the meeting but trying to nail down a 1-2 hour window in which four or five busy PI's can sit down to meet with me. This may encompass everyone at one site, people at multiple sites by videoconference, or heaven forbid the teleconference. Teleconferences for me are the worst, it feels like I'm getting scolded by Charlie from Charlie's Angels on the phone. I honestly feel for the admin assistants that are constantly trying to get PI's scheduled for meetings, I have two meetings a year and its like pulling teeth to get everyone's schedules to gel. Plus I catch flack from my institution if I don't have my meetings within a precise time frame, getting their nasty emails if my committee meeting is a day late.
It really is like herding cats...
Abstractly Referential
How many of you put references in your meeting abstracts? Most program booklets I see make me think its pretty rare, so what say you dear readership? Do you always put references in the abstract? Sometimes when necessary? Or never?
Scientopia takes over Ohio!!!
I'll be in Cincinnati, OH for the 14th Annual Midwest DNA Repair Symposium May 18th-20th. If you want to grub up or hang out, let me know.
Skype Conferences and Hygiene
Cramming a bunch of us into my PI's office and in front of his monitor for a videoconference makes you realize the fundamentals of good hygiene and a resentment for those that don't practice them. Wash thy ass because you stink!
#hotelproblems
-Goddamn hotel room key won't open the door, this is the 3rd one, what dumpsterbaby mans the front desk
-There is a dark curly hair on the toilet that is far longer than anything my body can grow.
-Ice maker is on odd floors, vending machine on even floors. Neither adjacent ice maker works.
-The only thing nice about my hotel is the view that looks into the parking lot of a nicer hotel.
-I'm half tempted to tell the kid running up and down the hall yelling to STFU.
-The elevator smells like dead animals and sperm.
Planning for postdocing...
I'm getting to the point in my graduate student career where it is time to start contemplating postdoctoral fellowships and all that goes along with that. I know I want to stay in the DNA repair field but want to shift away from my current spectrum of work into another subfield, maybe the implications of DNA repair in aging or maybe cryptochromes. Honestly who knows right now. I'm more looking just to get my name out there by attending some of the smaller more intimate meetings (Gordon, etc.) that are patroned by the movers and shakers in my field. Hopefully by them seeing me and me seeing them I can lock up a good postdoc. For those of you in postdocs or who have done one, I would be interested in knowing how did you find your PI and what were the circumstances of setting up your postdoc.
Thanks.
Calling all Houstonians...
I'll be in your neck of the woods for an NCBI workshop on March 13-14th. Give me some ideas for fun things to do while I'm there, and if anyone wants to grab a bite to eat or a beer, drop me a line. Oh and where can I rent a horse, I need some fuel efficient transportation while I'm there.
What's the frequency Kenneth... Committee Meetings
How often do you have a committee meeting and how often do you think grad students need to have them. Here in Genomic RepairmanLand, we must have a committee meeting every six months. I've heard some pipe up and say that is way too often and that it should be every 8-12 months and I've heard from people that have them even less than that.
Dear reader what say you?
Time to start jamming again
Just got back from my society meeting. Met a lot of really cool readers of Scientopia and Canadians. I'll be making a series of posts on the meeting next week but this is all I've got for you right now.
Enjoy some Ram Jam
