The Society for Neuroscience, SfN, holds an annual meeting that is attended by scientists and physicians from all around the world. This year, because of the ongoing pandemic, the meeting was run virtually. Did I enjoy it?
Like thousands of other neuroscientists, every year I look forward to joining the biggest neuroscience conference: the Society for Neuroscience or SfN, as we friendlily call it.
SfN meetings gather thousands of neuroscientists, both young and senior, from all around the world to a major US city to discuss not only cutting-edge research on the brain and nervous system but also to explore school fairs, be amazed by neuro-related art exhibitions, listen to music concerts and look into hundreds of job opportunities.
Each year for the last 15 years, I booked my tickets, printed my visa, and traveled as a student, postdoc, and more recently as a scientific writer, to Washington DC, New Orleans LA, Chicago IL, San Diego CA, Atlanta GA, multiple times.
This year everything was different
2020 marked the start of our virtual lives. During the height of the pandemic, many companies and organizations had to transform their already planned international conferences and meetings into digital events.
Digital events amplify the scientific exchange across the globe. They provide scientists at all career stages and of all disciplines with the opportunity to showcase their studies and to connect with top scientists without the fear of approaching them in person and presenting their results in a stage-fright-free mode.
Here are some numbers of the first SfN virtual event:
- 5,293 digital attendees (a small fraction of the 30,000 who would ordinarily attend!)
- 2,405 digital poster presentations
- 130 exhibitors
- 128 graduate school and career fair exhibitors
- 91 speakers
- 67 attendee-organized socials
- 50 countries represented
- 27 sessions
Did I enjoy it?
Yes, but not 100%!
Staring at a screen all day while sitting in the same place for hours is definitely exhausting. Not counting any sort of distractions: emails, notifications, chores, kids, and pets screaming for attention.
However, there were some positive aspects.
No jet lag. No extra travel costs. I have dressed in a more than informal way bordering on embarrassment. I could look at the park outside my window still listening to a plenary lecture. I snacked and drank coffee for free whenever I wanted (and let me tell you that my coffee Italian tastes much better than any coffee I have ever sipped at any conference lounge).
I could listen to all the (parallel) sessions, workshops, and plenary lectures. I could stop, re-play, and re-listen to certain parts I might have missed, read questions and answers in real-time, and calmly write readable notes down.
In the end, I felt I got a lot of value because I could access all the conference recordings.