Have you always wondered what a mathematics conference is REALLY like? Well, you're in luck! Several graduate students from our department are currently at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in New Orleans, Louisiana and will be reporting back on their adventures (or misadventures, as the case may be) with this huge mathematics conference. Today's post is by Jeff Breeding, local MGSA guru. Jeff gives us a run-down of his first two days at the conference:
January 5, 2011
My trip began with flying from Oklahoma City to Dallas and then from Dallas to New Orleans. I flew Southwest Airlines, which I highly recommend. The air hostesses said some funny things such as "Follow any instructions from any uniformed flight attendant. Do not trust the naked ones." and "As long as you do what we say, no one will get hurt" and "To use the oxygen mask, first stop screaming."
When I finally arrived at New Orleans, I took the Airport Shuttle to the hotel and got to see some of the city, which still has traces of damage from Hurricane Katrina. I arrived at the Marriott, my hotel, at around 1:00pm. For the next few hours I located where I would be spending my time over the next few days and tried to spot people I know. The conference rooms are spread amongst three hotels: the Marriott, the JW Marriott, and the Sheridan. These are all pretty close to each other and the rooms were easy to find. Returning to my hotel, I saw Dr. Brady and Dr. Kornelson. I would eventually see Dr. Magid chatting to a friend who I planned to have lunch with for the department's external review with a few other OU graduate students.
Finally my roommate, Kashyap, arrived. He drove with Sean Crowell, Lynn, and Qinghua from Norman in a fashionable PT Cruiser. They were planning to arrive earlier, but traffic was pretty bad and they were in a PT Cruiser. We went to a seafood restaurant in the French Quarter and had crab cakes. Our path to the restaurant provided glimpses of what New Orleans is. The city is very lively and has a very distinctive atmosphere. You KNOW you are in New Orleans. There seems to be music playing all the time. At our restaurant, there was an old boonswoggled blues musician playing the sax, the clarinet, and a Casio keyboard. He was all smiles and laughed riotously at all of his own jokes. After returning to our room, we prepared for the next day.
January 6, 2011
This was the first day of the conference and it was very exciting. Kashyap and I first went to the registration board to put check marks by our names and then we investigated the Employment Center. Neither of us had interviews scheduled and so the Employment Center didn't seem like it would have many prospects for us while we were here. Interviews are essentially all decided before the conference starts. We went to the lobby to check our e-mails and to see if any new information about jobs was posted. I didn't find much and so I opted to venture across the street to the Sheridan to attend the Number Theory session for the rest of the morning.
When the session ended at 11:00, I went back to the hotel and checked my e-mail and ran into Ravi Srinivasan, an OU alum who is currently at Rutgers in Newark. We met up with some OU grad students and divided into two food-seeking hordes. We hungered and desperately needed to satisfy our cravings, unfortunately choosing to dine at the House of Blues. (There was a long bitter rant here about our time at the restaurant, but I removed it for your sake. You're welcome.)
Upon leaving the restaurant I journeyed back to my room and grabbed my application packets and a bag. Like a bunny, I leaped out of my room and proceeded to the exhibition center on the second floor. The NSA had a table in this wondrous place where I signed up for an interview and gave them some application materials. Whilst in the exhibition center, I ran into a couple of people that I had met at the Western Number Theory Conference in mid-December. I chatted with them awhile about jobs and future conferences. The next goal I had for the exhibition center was to get some swag. I took a number of pens, a mesh bag from the NSA, some keychains and magnets, and various mathematical tchotchkes. I took the loot back to my room and locked it in the room safe, satisfied with my first plundering of my stay. I quickly thought of a limerick for the combination and became even more satisfied.
Next on the agenda was attending Kashyap's talk. I gambolled across the thoroughfare to the JW Marriott where his talk was held. Upon its conclusion I returned to my hotel and sat in the lobby, allowing my tired electronics to recharge. My day of math talks ended after attending a talk by an OU alum, Eduardo Martinez-Pedroza, a post-doc at McMasters.
After stopping by the Graduate Student Reception and enjoying a cube of cheese dipped in ranch dressing, I met up with a gaggle of OU students and alumni to go out to dinner. We went into the French Quarter ambling down the celebrated Bourbon Street, which comes alive every night. The French Quarter is in a state of perpetual festival where, verily, a splendid time is guaranteed for all. We had some great seafood after finding a suitable restaurant that was not too busy. Afterwards, we ambled down Bourbon Street a bit more before returning to our hotels, in accordance with prophecy.
(Disclaimer: Please note that all views and opinions expressed herein are those of Jeff and not of the MGSA, the Department of Mathematics, or the University of Oklahoma!)
No comments:
Post a Comment