[Air-l] RE: Conference Postcard #2

[Matthew Allen]

Hi all

more news from Maastricht... (this is being resent, like 20 hears
later...like DUH I got the address wrong early this morning, GMT+1)

last day of the conference, and this email is coming to you now because
I got in far too late last night. However I wasn't partying unduly - I
was doing research for this latest bulletin of conference goings-on
(yeah, right!)  

Congratulations to all those hardcore dancers and drinkers who, after a
great conference dinner (250 people at the dinner!), continued into the
small hours to celebrate the success of the conference so far. (And I
have the photos to prove it :))

And it is, still, a great conference. One person said to me that he
liked it because of the people, most of all: open-minded and "generous
with ideas". And the papers are of high standard... Exec member Ulla
Bunz says "most presentations really present results of interesting
studies", rather than being vague ideas.

A highlight for me, also, is to see returning AoIR conference delegates
and members and seeing how they are continuing and extending their
research from previous years. And, since there more than 400 people
here, obviously many new attendees are coming, to enrich our experience
and bring new perspectives.

Bill Dutton, newly made head of the Oxford Internet Insitute, (one of
the keynote speakers who have all so far stimulated much discussion
after their presentations), said that high-quality research must be at
the forefront of our endeavour and, I believe, we are seeing the
continued value of AoIR and this conference in supporting and expressing
that research.

Off to lunch now - one more postcard to come.

Matthew