Dear Dr Emad

Thank you and not thank me as you always are the best and I think being perfectionist  as you are perfect. Some friends mostly  European friends answered  totally  different but we can have different cognition due to some different happening in our countries and we seem nowadays young students mostly are indifferent in fact as they are worried about finding jobs and some social problems and ...

Commenting on the economic aspect of social development through employment,and ..... is conceivable for us but maybe other friends never experience it , therefore although I respect too much Dear Dr Barbara I have seen even in the best conferences now the attending  and taking part is rarely sucessful as our young people have lost their   emotions.Hopefully the evolution is now happening as I believe even humans are evolving all the time!!!

Best regards, Parisa

Oh Dear Dr Emad

Many thanks for your question, it is a bitter fact, although this jokking is a truth!

I have seen many just like these and sometimes have been disapointed but even for a few students or audiences I think it deserves  to do my best in accomplish scientific conferences.

You always express the bitter truth ironically and have the sense of humor dear friend!

God always protect you, and please accept my best and warm regards, parisa

agreed-its reality

This may happen but not permanently

And depends on the weakness of the organization for the conference as well as the low scientific level of the research paper, the personality of the researcher and the committee responsible for the conference

Dear Dr. Parisa,

I went for all my dictionaries to find a suitable word or phrase in order to use it in expressing my gratitude and thanks to you, but the expected result(s) was negative, so I will just say "thank you Parisa" but with deep meaning.

In return to our debate, I always seeking for best of the best in all academic activities that I participated in including symposiums, conferences, public scientific lectures...etc, by the way I am talking about national and international activities, and always detect such disappointed points and try to overcome it in cooperation with my colleagues, so I consider success of all academic events as our main responsibility.

Once again thank you so much dear Dr.Paris Ziarati.

Warm personal regards,

Emad from Babylon.

Dear Emad Kamil Hussein,

I am glad to appreciate you, You are brave in choosing this subject, and I will try to answer it with some courageous.

   Yes I saw many times like this behavior and sometimes I do like this in the conferences. But I think a well prepared and attractive conferences and proper selection of the attendants are essential to avoid such nauseated behavior and in succeeding any conference. The possible causes as I believe for such issue are:

1.       There is no enough time for all audiences to attend all the paragraphs of the conference

2.       Bad presentation by the presenters

3.       Some accidental events are happened to the attendants may prevent them from attend some of the paragraphs of the conference

4.       Late paragraphs of the conference are having less level than the preceding ones

Best regards

Raid

Dear my colleague Dr. Salam,

That's right but I am partially agree with you, because this stance also happening in many developed countries as I witnessed, so according to your own strategy, how to overcome it (best suggestions)?

All the best,

Emad

Hi,

Thanks dear Emad Kamil Hussein for sharing me this intelligent and brave question. you are right , the poster you portrayed mimics the reality indeed and this unfortunately makes me disappointed to a degree to participate in conferences. I think that this is mostly due to the fact that your specialty may differ to a degree from the attendance specialty and that the timetable of the seminars does not suit the audience(may be).

Do you face such attitude in your conference morning session?

Yes, I did.  Some questions might be raised include: is it an issue of a particular topic, speaker, schedule etc.  If we can identify its root cause may be we can prescribe some solutions.  E.g. if the issue is schedule related - we might schedule high demand / popular topics on the first day & last day so that attendees have to attend all / most of the sessions spread across different days.

Oh dear Dr. Raid M. Al-Ani,

I can not believe my eyes!!, Is that right? I am merely presenting the (negative) points in our traditional life and seeking for perfect solutions. I always recommend to establish a prepalnning for each event to at least partially overcome all expected obstruction(s).. so it is good to follow this statement "little bit planning leads to huge success"

Please Dr.Raid accept my best respect and regards,

Emad

Dear Dr. Arwa,

As I posted before, I can not amplify my writing skills up to your really excellent level!! Why? Because I used to spend almost of my time between bolts, belts, gears, clutches, ... other mechanical components, and have not superior English writing skill like you!! You are always using a tough and advance English expressions, of course due to your background(s).

In return to our motif, I partially agree with you, where you have to well select the assigned lecture to be attended taking in to your account similarity in specialty.

Kind and best regards,

Emad

That is due t the following reasons:

The targets of audience majority are to get the attendance certificate and to enjoy the entertainment and tourism program.

The target of some organizers is to earn money.

Dear Dr. Gomaa,

Thant's right to some extent but not always, thank you so much for your contribution.

Emad

The best strategy to overcome all these situations is by avoiding the points I stated earlier.

Remember that my first answer was depending on my experience outside the developed countries.

Regards.

rightly pointed out.

Dear Dr. Barbara,

I agree with you, but this stance is commonly in many international conferences and I am not talking about my participation(s) in such conferences.

Regards, Emad

 it could also happen during after noon lectures, to solve this problem, as i have seen in some conferences; to guarantee certificate of participation, it based on your attendance and you have to fill information regarding that lecture: like:  the name of the lecturer, the title and main points. by doing so the one who come for certificate of participation should have to participate actively by his/her attendance.   

Thanks for the invitation. Some conferences are frequently/mainly social events. Social networks and such social events are out of my interests/priorities. According to an Elder colleague, most of Conferences are markets of vanity. Whether we are organizing a conference or we are just speakers or mere participants we must essentially give the example of humility and give our best contribution in order to guaranty the best scientific quality possible. Normally when we participate in a conference, we have to pay the fee, we have to prepare the conference paper and prepare also its presentation, with normally 10 to 20 minutes available. Unless all participants are really experts and/or have many years of experience in your scientific area, pragmatically you paid and worked for selling your image or selling your product in a time of a commercial. Clearly, many participants are merely enjoying the dresses and the atmosphere.

Naturally and fortunately that there are many exceptions, but these cannot be measured only by the number of communications and number of attendants, but by the competence of the organization, scientific committee and scientific program.

This is very usual behaviour, as conferences are social events, not only the scientific one. Some good advices are given in my next contribution.

This related research questions may bring some fine answers and resources.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_role_of_scientific_conferences

https://www.researchgate.net/post/What_is_the_most_important_to_create_attractive_and_successful_Scientific_Conference

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Do_you_like_attending_conferences_or_speaking_at_conferences_What_do_you_normally_do_before_during_and_after_a_conference

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Why_are_you_attending_academic_conferences

Dear Prof. Emad,

The illustrations cleverly depict what mostly happens at most scientific conferences which must be halted. Many researchers do not attend the subsequent day's activities of the conference to partake in the discussions when they are fortunate to present their papers on the first day. Scientific conferences are platforms for serious academic and research education, interaction and collaboration for global academic development. Never should any of us be distracted in any way and/or fall prey to this weak and disturbing situation. Are we not true scholars? Best regards my brother

Dickson Adom

Hi 

I totally agree with you dear colleague Gomaa A. M. Ali.  This is what really happened in conferences.  Most attendees have limited time in addition to the weak preparation of the conference. This leads to quick ending at the second day mostly. 

Liqaa 

Hello

Unfortunately, the conferences have become formal, lacking in scientific expertise in many fields: research, evaluation, organization, etc. For this reason, we are not surprised to see what happened in the picture.

Thank you

Well noticed dear brother Dr.Dickson. Really, I get this caricature post from a famous  international website (www.phdcomics.com), that means, this website reflect many scholars indications as a participant in a scientific conference. In addition, the main aim of our discussions here in RG community is correct the (negative) notes that happen in our universities or academic research centers, so I hope to gain an expert opinions in such cases to highly improve our holy mission as a university lecturers. Thanks a lot for your unlimited cooperation.

Warm personal regards,

Emad

https://www.phdcomics.com

Dear Dr. Mazin Al-Salman,

I am partially agree with you, why? Because as I mentioned before, we are talking about many international conferences that have excellent attendees including principal scientists, full professors, well-know keynote speakers  and huge financial domestic, anyway, it is good to discuss such points and seeking for solution(s).

Thanks my brother Mazin, I hope to meet you at University of Diyala, conference of engineering college in the next December.

Kind regards,

Emad

I think the success of a conference does not depend only on the organizers. Granted, at times many of them possess poor organizational skills. However, we as attendees must help make it work by our presence and active participation not only in the presentation of our papers but also in putting everything together. Why do we organize conferences? Is it not to meet as scholars to pull the theme of the conference to the fullest so that we can use the import for our personal development and that of our societies? If that is the case then we need to assist conference organizers to make the conference a very fruitful and memorable one. Of course, at times we may have busy schedules that would not allow us breathe. Yet, this should not be our habitual attitude towards our academic conferences which are great avenues for knowledge acquisition, Knowledge sharing, research breakthroughs and collaborations that makes our world...a safe haven to live.

Dickson Adom

traveling a distance to attend conference means you have to be  fully committed to your mission.

I'm afraid that your cartoon depicts reality. There has been such an explosion in scientific conferences that one has to wonder how useful or interesting all of them can be? In fact, even the conference titles are often so generic, so duplicated, that it's hard to differentiate them.

Also, please, let's do away with those 7 AM start times! Hard to think of a better way to get poor attendance, than to start too early (or end too late, although late would definitely be my preference).

Don't know what others have noticed, but I've come to realize that there are many "professional meeting or conference attenders." They dutifully go on the trips, they don't seem to mind sitting all day being lectured at, they don't often contribute, and it seems like this type of activity makes them feel fulfilled. It takes all types.

Not all are doing the same

How to Organize a Conference: 18 Amazingly Useful Tips!

https://medium.com/tedx-experience/how-to-organize-a-conference-567fb50ccdbd

Keep Attendees Awake*: Writing Effective Presentations for International Conferences!

http://journal.chestnet.org/article/S0012-3692(08)60170-1/fulltext

How wonderful is this site dear Prof Ljubomir Jacić.

Let me Sir just say something personal, many of my college colleagues told me that you are very interactive lecturer in such a way by controlling all the attendees in your lecture where you are using all your body parts supported by your senses with variable sound levels so that makes us completely tensioned  to your presentation style. Really I have unlimited power.

Please sir accept my full respect.

Emad

https://medium.com/tedx-experience/...-organize-a-conference-567fb50ccdbd

Thanks a lot my Iraqi colleague Dr. Ali.

Emad

Any conference depends on the participant & especially the speakers who come with updated preparation by offering the successful reply of the question raised by participants which may offered an impressive impact on the conference.

It has been also observed that sometime participants are not cleared in raising the question well by one may observe that the participant may be in a confuse manner .

In such cases if the speaker with his oratory commanding experience of his knowledge the entire atmosphere of the conference get change. The success of any conference depends on the speakers who may be versatile & knowledgeable in their action performance.

This is my personal Opinion

The success of a conference depends on the caliber of keynote and plenary speakers.It also depends on the quality of research papers presented.

That was my own problem in the early lecture !

Solution : 1- coffee serving after the first early lecture   

2- and/or shorter early lecture

Unless attitude is changed ,nothing going to improve the situation.

Dear Dr.Said Jamous,

Thanks a lot for your comment, sorry Sir, what do you mean by "the early lecture !"? at a conference or ordinary daily lecture?

Really many attendees do not wait or present more attentions in such situations.

Regards, Emad

Dear Dr. Atij Roy,

So nice comment, I do agree with you sir but how to change the attitude? what are our responsibility to do that? Who is the main responsible for such case, lecturer or attendee?

Please sir accept mr full respect.

Emad

It must be a joint effort.

If it is a normal  lecture of a collage , institute or of a conference , the early timed one on 07:00 h  am affects the mude of attendees . Who comes on 07:00 h, has worked hard to arrive at this time . So he needs a second charge to get his fit mude to recieve , understand, enjoy participating and keep awake for the whole day !

Well noticed dear Dr. Said Jamous.

Regards

Dear Dr Emad

Thank you and not thank me as you always are the best and I think being perfectionist  as you are perfect. Some friends mostly  European friends answered  totally  different but we can have different cognition due to some different happening in our countries and we seem nowadays young students mostly are indifferent in fact as they are worried about finding jobs and some social problems and ...

Commenting on the economic aspect of social development through employment,and ..... is conceivable for us but maybe other friends never experience it , therefore although I respect too much Dear Dr Barbara I have seen even in the best conferences now the attending  and taking part is rarely sucessful as our young people have lost their   emotions.Hopefully the evolution is now happening as I believe even humans are evolving all the time!!!

Best regards, Parisa

Dear Dr. Parisa,

I appreciate your post, so please could you sen me more details about you opinion to my formal email?

Emad

Dear Dr. António Manuel Abreu Freire Diogo

Thank you very much for your message, please sir, I did not well understood Dr.Parisa post, really this was the fact so I asked here to send me more details about here opinion, beside that I did not send any private email to Dr. Parisa, never, you can contact here and ask about this situation beside that I totally respect all my RG colleagues, Please sir accept my deep apology for this un-intended  situation!

By the way, There is a technical error in my RG messaging facility, so that makes me to write to you directly here.i am sorry.

Accept my full respect and regards,

Emad

Dear, thanks for sharing!

Certainly the caricature demonstrates a reality of many scientific events, with programming and / or speakers with low level. However, even with quality programming, there are tourist spots around the event, near the end, tend to have a smaller audience. This is what I have noticed, both in my country and in international events in which I participated.

That's right dear Dr. Osmar, I do agree with you. Thank you very much for your kind comment.

Regards, Emad

Today, we can see many  international conferences which are conducting for earning profit for the hosting institution/organization and/or getting a reputation in the society.  Such conferences accept papers from any branch. Most of the authors / participants in such conferences are  aiming only to publish their papers in the proceedings and to get certificates.

On the other side, if the theme of the conference is more specific, it is a chance for the scholars and resource persons in different parts of the word doing research on same field to share their ideas. In such cases, I think there may be a good participation.

Making a Conference Worth Attending!

I have tried over the years to apply to our own efforts my thoughts on what makes conferences and sessions work or not. And I have paid some attention to what’s trendy in Conferenceland. For example, for a while, maybe a little less than a decade ago, there was a kind of backlash against the “traditional” conference — a move toward “unconferencing the conference,” with some organizations hosting conferences for which there was little or no agenda and participants drove the content...

The idea made sense — let folks take ownership and get what they need out of a gathering. And, occasionally, it worked well. Other times, not so much. (Turns out, a little structure and planning can be helpful.)...

http://effectivephilanthropy.org/making-a-conference-worth-attending/

Dear Dr Emad Kamil Hussein, I asked you PRIVATELY, if what I understood from your answer to Parisa was correct: “It means that you sent a private email to Dr. Parisa and are asking now a public answer?” If it was true, independently of the contents, it looks that would not be acceptable or respectful, beginning for the receptor. Thanks for clarifying PUBLICALLY what you meant by “formal email”. It looks that you did nothing wrong so you do not need to ask apologies, at least to me. I hope that your “technical error” can be solved rapidly.

… Answering directly to your PUBLIC question “Do you face such attitude in your conference morning session?” my answer is No. As far as I remember, fortunately I never faced such attitude. But if you faced such attitude, my advice is that you should not worry, provided that you learned the message, because according to Frederick Nizteche quote “That which does not kill us make us stronger.” 

https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/friedrichn101616.html

The previous resource that I heve brought, brings many suggestions.

But here’s a few conference-planning rules we try to abide by based on what we have learned over the years:

• Don’t have a planning committee.
• Get the right mix of speakers.
• Don’t dictate the format of sessions.
• Avoid wordy slides.
• Keep it small (even though the economics of small conferences are terrible). 
• Keep it real. 
• Have plenty of breaks.
• Tend to the little things. 
• Get speakers who won’t “mail it in.” ...

Dear Respected Dr. António Manuel Abreu Freire Diogo, Sir,

I can not describe my thanks to you in words, really I am so grateful for you and our colleague Dr. Parisa, Trust me sir, I did not sleep starting from the moment that you send me your private message!! but as you know that I am non-English native speaker so I think that I can not clearly express my ideas via questioning and answering facility. anyway please sir and Dr. Paris accept my full regards and respect and thank you so much for your kind understanding and then answering my so simple question. I promise you sir that we are going to still colleagues, brothers, friends with high standard of academic ethics.

Note: I wrote to RG staff regarding my technical messaging error and they told be it will be solved shortly.

Warm person regards,

Sincerely yours

Emad