I don’t really get the point of all the mailings from other law schools, they generally go right into my recycling bin, but I receive quite a few, so someone somewhere thinks they are accomplishing something somehow. But are they? When I get “invited” to attend a conference or lecture by virtue of an impersonal mailed circular that arrives less than two weeks before the advertised happening is set to take place, I have to assume that the point of the “invitation” is simply an exercise in institutional promotion and postage wastage that is intended to inform me that the event is occurring more or less as background noise, and there is no expectation whatsoever that I will actuallly register and attend.
I don’t think that the relevant conference organizers are intentionally communicating a message of, “we’re giving this really cool conference, hahahahaha, too bad your geeky distantly-located self can’t come,” but sometimes that is almost what it feels like! Even if attendee spaces remains open and hotel accomodations are still available, my tiny public-law-school-in-a-poor-state travel budget will not cover the cost of market rate hotel rooms or last minute airline tickets. Receiving a symposium announcement a week before an appealing-sounding event that I would have considered attending if I’d had adequate notice can really smart. So, one thing that blogs like this can be used for is to publicize conference announcements early and often! So please take note: I’m happy to post any event related in any way to gender, feminism and law, just e-mail the pertinent information to: feministlawprof@yahoo.com
