# Academic Conference Advice **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 29, 2007, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academic-conference-advice/431572 "2007-12-29T05:59:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academic-conference-advice/431572/21 "2008-01-01T05:45:38Z")
[QUOTE=Digital Stimulus] Certainly! I feel like I’m casting a pall over this, which I don’t mean to do. So, an attempt at levity: Yes, a relevant Simpsons clip would likely go over well… 😃 [/QUOTE] Our keynote speaker last year was one of the founders of Nvidia, and, yes the animation went over well. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2008, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academic-conference-advice/431572/22 "2008-01-01T05:55:15Z")
[QUOTE=Ol’Gaffer] This seems like a good time to post Geoff Pullum’s [Five Golden Rules](http://people.ucsc.edu/~pullum/goldenrules.html). Words to live by!! [/QUOTE] Excellent rules. On questions, I’ve noted that maybe ten people out of five hundred ask 25% of the questions. (I’m one of them.) Anyone else notice this? We try to get someone primed to ask a question, if no one else does. I’ve seen some conferences request the speaker produce some, but these are usually so detailed that it is obvious they are a plant. Usually the session chair asks one if no one else does, but unless he or she is really involved, they don’t inspire follow ups. I usually try to get the session moderator (the PC member responsible for the session) to ask one from the back of the room as a more credible shill. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/academic-conference-advice/431572.md?page=1)