What's the Value of Conferences? :The Scientist [2006-05-01]


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	BY JAMES W. AIKEN

What's the Value of Conferences? The long reach of Bill Gates finally touched the Keystone Symposia, and all of conference planning, really. I was writing a grant proposal for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and came to an interesting stipulation: We had to show measured value for our program. Another routine survey where respondents write in what they liked and didn't like about our meetings clearly wouldn't do. I had