Symposiums and congresses are organized in many parts of the world. A lot of money and time is spent. Do these symposiums and congresses really contribute to science? Do these congresses and symposiums have the necessary qualifications and quality? Does it achieve its intended purposes? Today, are symposiums and congresses organized as commercial and academic career tools?
ICT cannot fully substitute for 'assembly pedagogics'. Any serious discourse community is in need of personal and social events, commercial and/or academic .Some event management is done by professionals and needs payments/contributions; the craft of an amateur is limited, when it comes to conference organization. Of course, many congresses look like academic tourism, but such enjoyment also can reinforce scientific contacts. All these events add to peace; many good ideas can be created in a relaxed atmosphere.
A symposium is a place and a time of personal encounters. This personal communication is more valuable today than ever in the age of the Internet. However, this effort only benefits a few well-paid specialists who can boast about their achievements and successes. This form of gathering has always existed and will always exist. Unfortunately, my personal experience is negative, as the professors at the meetings only see, perceive and speak their own kind. The hard-working employees of the lower levels are usually more or less "invisible" for the professors, since the precious time is very limited.
Nice question! My impression is that we do not need so many scientific congresses or symposia to contribute to the scietific debates. However academic careers are measured also by considering the partecipation to and the organization of congresses and symposia. Probably academics will build new explicit rankings for congresses and symposia. In my career the most useful discussion are specific seminars (better if I can present my research in my mother tongue language) with a long presentation, a long discussion and a long reply: non more than one paper, better if it has been distributed and read by the participants before the presentation. Unfortunately we live in time when scholars are too incentived to publish and they are not incetived to attend specific seminars. Do you know Piero Sraffa? He spent 25 years to write Production of commodities by means of commodities (1960). He read a lot. Very different way to be economist...
I also feel, the number of symposiums and congresses is increasing alarmingly. The number should be less and quality needs to be increased. We should also put more emphasis on the science outcomes of these events.
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