Hacking the AAA

Lets face it, a huge conference like the AAA can be overwhelming. Its pretty hard to attend a panel for a single paper, and I find I can’t really stomach more than one or two panels a day. Not to mention socializing, business meetings, looking at the books, and maybe getting out to see a museum exhibit or take in a movie. So how to manage it all without going crazy? If the AAA staff were half-way familiar with this series of tubes called the internet, they might put together a Google calendar version of the schedule. Since they haven’t, I created my own personal calendar just for the conference.

It isn’t exactly my itinerary for the conference, since a lot of events I’m interested in overlap, but it’s a useful way to list any, and every, event which catches my eye, and to then have those listed on my iPhone. Its also handy to figure out when might be a good time to meet up with old friends. Not to mention, it can serve as a useful record of the event after its done.

Looking around the anthro-blog-o-sphere, only Somatosphere had a post up about what they were planning on seeing at the AAA this year. How about you? Are there any must-see panels on your list? Are you presenting a paper this year? Let us know in the comments!

P. Kerim Friedman is an assistant professor in the Department of Ethnic Relations and Cultures at National Dong Hwa University, in Taiwan, where he teaches linguistic and visual anthropology. He is co-director of the film Please Don't Beat Me, Sir!, winner of the 2011 Jean Rouch Award from the Society of Visual Anthropology. Follow Kerim on Twitter.