I've just received an invitation from my university's events team to lead a bid to host an international conference. I note that there was not mention of payment for my work in bringing this income to the university. #academicsky
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To me it's a bit like being invited to provide free content for a magazine in return for exposure. The suggestion is that I am being offered something for my benefit, when actually the business development officer who got in touch is looking to increase their profits from my free labour.
As a frequent event organiser, I've long been suspicious of the way conference organising work is overlooked as a free source of revenue generation for spun out conference facilities.
Instead, inspired by @apasek.bsky.social & teams idea of 'administrative activism' let's think about better places conferences fees could go. Including supporting local community run venues. Conferences as community economies (Gibson Graham et al)
Apropos of this I'm currently organizing a regional gathering that will take place at a university research centre on a lake in the summer. A big plus is that presenters can bring their partners/kids!
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https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/geoj.12557