- August 2, 2018
- Posted by: saeed
- Category: Society News
About 130 participants filled out and submitted the questionnaire for the evaluation of InterPore2018, New Orleans, 14-17 May 2018. A detailed summary of the results is given here. Based on the comments received from the survey, we have decided to make two major changes, as explained below.
The evaluation of the conference was generally positive. There was a very high satisfaction with the quality of the technical program and scientific interactions. Opinions on meeting organization and venue, however, were somewhat lower, but a majority of people still scored these aspects positively.
Free-form feedback was solicited for areas to improve, and the two areas that received the most consistent criticism were the quality of food and the large number of minisymposia, particularly as some had very similar topics.
Criticisms of the lunches were primarily about the poor quality and the large amount of waste generated from the box lunches. Criticisms of the dinner were primarily about the long lines, lack of options, and not having the quality feel of a gala dinner.
We acknowledge the shortcomings noted by the participants.
Regarding the lunches and the gala dinner, we had opted for inexpensive meals in order to keep the registration fee low. The early-bird fee for academic members was only 470 Euro, which just covered the expenses for the state of the art venue, eight coffee breaks, reception, gala dinner, student activities, and many other administrative/organizational necessities.
For InterPore2019 we have decided that a gala dinner will not be included in the conference registration fee, however, instead of having a welcome party to have a buffet dinner at the conference location with delicious Spanish food.
Regarding the program, for InterPore2019, instead of an open call for minisymposia, we will have a number of invited minisymposia covering major porous media topics. We will still solicit proposals for minisymposia in special subject areas. This way, the number of minisymposia will be somewhat limited and the program will be structured better.