Comments on: When Do We Get Donuts?

By: Mark H

Mark H — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 03:51:47 +0000

This reminds me of my days as a grad student in Chicago. I had a great adviser who purchased an espresso machine for the lounge, allowing me to stay awake for most talks! On the other hand, the astronomy grad students somehow got their department to provide cookies without the obligatory talk – avoiding the eat and run problem. Those were the days…

By: Peter Coles

Peter Coles — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 13:52:04 +0000

Do nuts eat doughnuts?

By: daisyrose

daisyrose — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 03:20:35 +0000

I think they should have food before and after -

By: AMH Insurance

AMH Insurance — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:59:36 +0000

You’ve got to keep them waiting for the snacks or they will eat and run.

By: shantanu

shantanu — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 18:55:42 +0000

Well if one wants to have donuts after the seminar, the seminar has to be start early (before 4 pm). At PSU we used to have cookies after the seminar which used to be between 3-4 and that gave ample opportunity to indulge in informal chats with the
speaker. Starting a colloquia before 4 is not possible because of teaching conflicts etc.
Also I have been to seminars/colloquia where there is usually a class scheduled in the same room after the seminar and that is usually inconvenient to the speaker as well as
the audience, so there is no time to ask questions.

By: Chad Orzel

Chad Orzel — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:11:13 +0000

Manual TrackBack ping: A poll on what food should be served, and when.

By: ace

ace — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:19:22 +0000

I think that’s a good idea to serve them after.

By: Jonathan Vos Post

Jonathan Vos Post — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:30:47 +0000

Don’t Topology conferences map coffee into donuts by diffeomorphims?

I’ve been to some very well-catered conferences, where the lavish food is in a central location adjacent to each of several auditoriums and smaller meeting rooms at, for instance, CMU. There are great conferences where one must purchase food in the hotel restaurant or a catering table set up near the main ballrooms (International Conference on Complex Systems). The huge San Diego Comic-Con (120,000+ people) is almost impossible to find food at. Seminars at Caltech often have a breakfasty and a lunchy table outside the plenary lecture hall. My worst memory was that, 20 seconds before I was to start my invited talk (I was already on stage) at an AIAA conference, someone yelled “They’re serving free roast beef sandwiches at the IBM booth” and 2/3 of my audience stampeded out the doors. I later published a popularized version as “Future Spacecraft Sensors” [Quantum, No.41, Winter/Spring 1992, pp.23-26, Thrust Publications, 8217 Langport Terrace, Gaithersburg, MD 20877; ISSN 0198-6686. But not the same…

By: ryano

ryano — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:57:28 +0000

I doubt that having the food after the talk will make it any more awkward for a grad student! In fact, it is easier, because no one sees you sneaking off with food when you leave the lecture hall.

By: Phillip Helbig

Phillip Helbig — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:17:47 +0000

There is no reason not to have refreshements both before and after a talk. A more interesting question is dinner with the speaker. I’ve seen it before and after. Before has the advantages that it gives the speaker something to do, he can familiarize himself with the audience and perhaps change the talk accordingly, it is during working hours so not such a problem for people who have to get home and the speaker can also get home if he lives nearby. Also, the speaker has to eat anyway sometime before the talk and might not know where etc. After has the advantages that one can discuss the talk, there is no strict time when it all has to end, some people and/or the speaker might want an excuse not to get home early and the speaker will probably be more relaxed. Both have their advantages. Big disadvantages of dinner with the speaker after a talk (and, to a lesser extent, before): there is usually a stable seating arrangement, so some folks are sitting too far away to converse with the speaker and also the food usually comes just when the conversation is getting interesting and tends to interrupt things.

Of course, for all advantages, one could have a meal with the speaker both before and after the talk, but that might be overkill. How can one have all the advantages of before and after without the disadvantages of after mentioned above? I found out in Finland: meal with the speaker is before the talk, and after the talk is the sauna—no fixed seating arrangements and nothing to interrupt a good conversation. (In my case, there was an additional meal after the sauna as well, but then again my host was very accomodating.)

By: graviton383

graviton383 — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 23:54:08 +0000

Of course not ANY old wine would do so maybe it should be reserved for SPECIAL speakers.

By: Ben

Ben — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:41:05 +0000

Marc, the wine after the talk was at a typical Large State University. I think we had a special dispensation with some understanding that the wine was unlikely to fall into the hands of undergrads. Either that, or we were just breaking the rules. However, I do agree that many Large State Universities would make it impossible, which is a hold over of our so-called Puritan heritage if you ask me. Sean should add “ridiculous university alcohol policies” to his list of grievances next time he goes on a jeremiad about science and religion.

By: Eugene

Eugene — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 10:07:18 +0000

What is wrong with having donuts both before and after the talk?? It is even pleasingly time-reversal invariant.

By: cbda

cbda — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:00:35 +0000

Coffee Before, Donuts After.

By: Lab Lemming

Lab Lemming — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 03:49:02 +0000

Every geology department I have ever worked in has had afternoon talk, followed by beer and bar food.

Works well- even with day care issues, provided the kids are at a center within walking distance which stays open past 5:30.

Sometimes, the beer is sold by the student geo association as a fund raiser for their activities.

By: Tod R. Lauer

Tod R. Lauer — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 23:52:31 +0000

This may seem a bit silly, but in Tucson we went from afterwards to before several years ago in part because the physical layout & room rules required the goodies to be well separated from from the lecture hall. The result was that speaker was often buttonholed in the hall by various people piling on after the talk, while the locusts descended on the goodies, leaving nothing by the time we could pry the speaker away.

This is also may be silly, but I always preferred the energy of the crowd building up before the talk, sweeping in en-mass, versus, the afterwards situation of most people snagging a goodie and immediately scurrying back to their office.

But… Could I get you out here, Sean, if I promised donuts afterwards?

By: Arj

Arj — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 22:39:39 +0000

Donuts…??? What happened to bagels and lox!?

By: Low Math, Meekly Interacting

Low Math, Meekly Interacting — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:04:03 +0000

Cripes, does no one get lunch anymore? Y’know, talk at 11:00, Q&A for last ten minutes, those who wish to then retire to a conference room for a bag lunch from Au Bon Pain or whatever, where substantive discussion naturally ensues…? I guess if the hosting group is huge that could be a (money) problem, but IMO, if you can, you start off with coffee and something snacky before, to lure in both the starving mooches and the genuinely interested. Then afterwards, the hosting investigator takes the speaker up to the group conf. rm. for lunch. It takes some balls to crash a lab luncheon and have nothing to contribute, so typically those who didn’t report to the host but were eating the food had a good reason to be there. Peons like me were shown pity and fed as well. But for heaven’s sake, you’re going drag some poor person in from gawd-knows-where and not at least give them a seat and a sandwich right afterwards? Just lousy donuts? Misers!

By: John Preskill

John Preskill — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 19:23:30 +0000

I prefer having refreshments after the seminar, to encourage relaxed discussion about the seminar or other topics, and I like to provide fresh fruit and popcorn as an alternative to cookies. We start our weekly Caltech quantum information seminar at 3pm to allow plenty of time afterward. With this gambit, we recently ensnared Sean Carroll for some fruitful conversation about eternity. Come back again soon, Sean.

By: Peter Coles

Peter Coles — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 18:53:07 +0000

Useful tip: if your speaker is likely to be boring, ensure that he/she has lots to drink before the seminar. That way, if you’re lucky, they are very unlikely to run over because they’ll need to answer a call of nature.