It occurs to me that academic conferences are like grown-up nerd summer camp. You spend a few days hanging out with complete strangers who happen to have similar interests as you. There's a schedule with a choice of sessions to attend. You form a lunch crowd. You form a dinner crowd. These do not always consist of the same people. You stay up too late talking with any and all of the above. By the end of the conference, you've exchanged emails and promised to collaborate on future projects and stay in touch.
I enjoyed the conference in Oslo so much, largely due to the factors mentioned above. I never went to a proper sleep-away summer camp as a kid (at least not one where the other campers were complete strangers to me). I've always found the idea of showing up somewhere and having to make friends with strangers unsettling. But that ended up being my favorite thing about the conference - here were all these like-minded people who also didn't know anyone else! This was a place where it was perfectly reasonable to walk up to a stranger, say hello, and ask about their research interests. To ask if you can sit next to them at dinner, and spend the next few hours talking shop, arguing amiably, and laughing with people who you did not know at all that morning.
And my goodness, how smart these people are! I happen to work with very smart people here in Turku, but since I see them all the time, I've become desensitized to their particular brilliance. What a treat it was in Oslo to hear smart people talk (and present in their own sessions) smartly about smart things. I'm already looking forward to the next grown-up nerd summer camp.
