Conferences at Resorts

I don’t think I’m really a resort person. I have conferences from time to time at resorts that are trying to be fancy, and I always find them awkward. I don’t play golf or tennis, or drink heavily. This may be the start of the problem: I’d rather be outside doing things like hiking, cycling or just about anything else. It isn’t polite to swim in the water traps on the golf courses, so that rules out a nice open water swim.

I like the concept of a conference at a resort: it brings people together beyond just the meetings. When everyone is staying at the same place, you bump into more people and have a chance to be social. It gets a bit strange to be passing kids going to the pool and people in golf attire. And then there are the conference goers: the conference people dressed in business casual and going to meetings. I think the kids have the better deal.

A key reason to have a conference at a resort is that it is difficult to get food outside the property, so the social thing becomes a bit easier. I can’t recall how many times my best contacts at events have been people I’ve met in the hallways or at an evening social. These are the contacts that we have done business with or who have introduced me to people we have done business with.

At this conference, there are a lot of scientists talking about batteries. These are the leaders in the field – including a few Nobel laureates. Everyone is committed to moving our industry forward, usually in the nerdiest ways possible. In this industry molecules matter, and every atom has a reason for being there (we hope). The stakes in the industry are high, and so given this I think it is best that we keep the scientists and engineers contained, away from the outside world to continue inventing, thinking and building the technology we need. Perhaps this is the best place for a conference after all.

Very exciting chemistry!