Conference season 2025: One and done

I have attended my one and only conference for 2025 two weeks ago. These conferences are getting ridiculously pricey. This last one practically wiped out my entire professional expense account for the year. Just the flight, hotel, and registration alone can easily run you over $2000 US dollars, and that's before you've even bought a sandwich. Sure, everything costs more these days, so I get that the fees have gone up a lot since I started out fifteen years ago. But they've shot up way faster than what universities give us for our professional accounts. There was a time I could hit two or three conferences in a season. Now? It's a one-and-done deal. That's what happened in 2024, and I'm pretty certain that's what's going to be the case next year in 2026. So, the big question is, was it worth it?

If anything, it was good to be back on my old university campus, University of the West Indies (UWI), for the Society for Pidgin and Creole Languages (SPCL) summer conference.

What's the point of these conferences?

Given the cost of these conferences, it's reasonable to wonder what's the point? Well, for those of us in academia, going to conferences isn't just a nice perk; it's a real part of the job. We have a responsibility to share our work with others in our field. It’s how we actually contribute to our area of study. Think of it as putting your ideas out there for a group of experts to poke, prod, and refine. It’s in these settings that we see new breakthroughs, spot emerging trends, and sometimes even figure out which ideas really need to be retired.

Beyond the academic exchange, conferences also serve an important public purpose. Most large universities get their funding from the public purse. So, these gatherings offer a chance for anyone interested to connect with academics face-to-face. It's a way for us to be accessible and for the public to get a glimpse into the kind of work we do, and how it might impact them. Mind you, we don't always do a good job at translating our ideas for public consumption, but it's a job that needs to be done nonetheless. The full paper that my presentation was based on is below:

Then there's the whole networking side of things, which is huge. At this last conference, for example, I bumped into a couple of other researchers who are just as fascinated as I am by how AI is going to shake up Creole linguistics. We had some great chats, and now it looks like there are some exciting chances for us to work together down the road. Those kinds of connections, the ones that spark new collaborations and ideas, are incredibly valuable. They often happen organically in the hallways or over a quick coffee, not in a scheduled session. So, even if the price tag stings, the opportunities that come from these gatherings often make them worthwhile, even if it means picking and choosing just one for the year.

The ROI of conference attendance

With academic conference costs going up and government funding for public universities shrinking, we're going to have to start taking a hard look at the return on investment for these events. It's a serious consideration for the near future, no doubt.

Now, sometimes, you'll hear a truly fresh idea at a conference – something that genuinely sparks your thinking. But let's be real, a good chunk of what's presented is what I'd call "filler-fluff." These are the presentations that seem to be there just to bulk up someone's CV, and they rarely get developed beyond that twenty-minute slot, let alone actually published. It can be a bit disheartening when you're hoping for real intellectual stimulation.

When you're just starting out in academia, though, going to conferences is essential. It's a great way for a new researcher to test out their ideas in front of others and to get a feel for how academic discussions actually happen in these settings. If you're on the job market, conferences are also prime spots for networking and finding out about available positions. You meet people, you make connections, and sometimes, those connections lead to your next big step.

But as you move along in your career, that urgent need to attend conferences starts to taper off. After a while, you begin to hear the same points recycled in twenty different ways. And honestly, there's only so many times you can sit through a presenter mumbling through thirty-five slides in a twenty-minute slot. At that point, the networking really becomes the main draw, and even that can be a bit of a gamble. Some conferences, you walk away with solid new connections and potential collaborations. Other times, it's just a lot of polite small talk and nothing truly clicks. So, the ROI definitely changes depending on where you are in your academic journey.

To attend or not to attend, that is the question

So, here I am, down to just one international conference a year, and that means I really need to make sure I have something genuinely worthwhile to say. At this point in my career, there's not much to gain from hopping between venues just to say I showed up. I'm definitely grateful for the networking chances that pop up when I go, but if I vanish from the conference circuit for a season or two, the world won't exactly stop spinning.

Snapshot from the conference dinner. One of the highlights of conferences in the Caribbean is that our conference dinners tend to turn into full on dance parties--which is very different from conferences in North America and Europe which are usually packed with socially awkward academics sporting two left feet. Prof. Silvia Kouwenberg (stooping at the front) was being honoured with a lifetime achievement award, so I had to be there since she steered me in the direction of doing graduate studies in linguistics.

I usually only go to conferences during my non-teaching term, which is typically the summer. But let's be honest, there are a million other things I could be doing with my summer besides flipping through a slide deck for a half-empty room of attendees. The thought of interacting with other academics during my downtime is, frankly, a bit depressing – especially when the conversation inevitably drifts to how swamped they are or how terrifying the current "political climate" feels. No thank you. I'd much rather be firing up the barbecue, hitting the gym, hanging out with family and friends, or catching up on some leisure reading. Heck, if missing a conference season meant I could dedicate more time to nurturing the marijuana plants in my backyard, I'd consider that time incredibly well spent.

Here's one of my little marijuana plants protected by a garden gnome I painted.

So, if you're an academic still out there on the conference tour, truly, enjoy it and get your #conferencing on. Just choose wisely, network broadly, and most importantly, make sure you've got something meaningful to contribute.