Conference participation

The conference program

Once all contributions have been selected, the conference organizers will be able to produce a detailed conference program. This will typically include the following sections:
1.registration: where you pay or confirm payment of the registration fee, and in return receive a badge identifying you as participant, plus documentation such as the latest program, invitations to social events, etc.
2.plenary sessions: general opening and closing of the conference, panel discussions, and talks by "invited" speakers, i.e. renowned experts in the domain, whose costs are paid by the organizers, presenting the "state-of-the-art"
3.parallel sessions: more specialized sessions with "contributing" speakers (selected on the basis of submissions, and having to pay to participate), that take place simultaneously in different rooms. Often such sessions or "symposia" are organized by their chairperson independently of the main conference committee, who is responsible for the focus and the selection of contributors. Smaller conferences (workshops) may not have parallel sessions.
4.social events: coffee breaks, lunches, receptions, conference dinner, excursions, etc.
Typical international conferences last 3-5 days, starting around noon on the first day to give participants the time to register, and ending on the afternoon of the last day, with sometimes a half-day break in the middle for a touristic excursion.
In spite of this seemingly short duration, conferences are typically exhausting, not only because of all of the stress accompanying travel and presentation, but because participants tend to be engaged in listening to/participating in highly intellectual conversation from morning till evening. Participants generally return home tired but stimulated and exhilarated by all the new ideas, informations, contacts, and plans they got. Unfortunately, most of those never get realized, as the participants comes back home to everyday routine with all its more pressing and practical problems...

Thank you for attention