Shall we shift MDRS-Manchester to 2021, and subsequent MDRS meetings also on by one year (e.g., Philadelphia in 2022)?
Please use the comments section below to discuss.
30 thoughts on “Shall we shift MDRS-Manchester to 2021, and subsequent MDRS meetings also on by one year (e.g., Philadelphia in 2022)?”
YES. There is a lot of uncertainty at the moment. Personally, I would feel a lot better (and more likely to attend) if the meeting was postponed. in addition to safety concerns related to traveling and spending time in large groups , many of us will be potentially in the process of reopening labs etc at that time after months of no data collection etc.. It may just be better to bite the bullet and delay.
Strongly agree that we should postpone by one year, but perhaps we can hold a couple of special talks, or even a social to keep the group together until our next face-to-face meeting.
I very much like this idea. And also think postponing is the most practical course of action. CNS, while great in many ways was also incredibly difficult for a handful of reasons. Most notably, as a parent it was near impossible to manage as an attendee with kids afoot and academic responsibilities at hand. While we may be back at schools come Fall (making a virtual conference easier to attend), this is not a given š¦
In addition to agreeing with everyone who has posted so far on the matter of postponing Manchester to 2021, I very much like Faraneh’s suggestion of arranging for a couple of virtual talks (I assume that’s what she meant) that might be part of a virtual meeting or just something extra. I would also enjoy watching a powerpoint presentation by any one in our group, or, for that matter, a few pages of notes describing some planned experiments, describing a re-analysis of something published, describing a difference of opinion with something published, &c.
I agree that postponing seems like the best option. I also like the suggestion of having some sort of interaction this year, whether it’s a few talks or a social. Another low-effort idea is to have each member select one paper/preprint/poster from their group that they’d like to highlight this year, and we can post links to the pdfs in a centralized location.
I agree with the consensus that we should postpone until 2021 and push all subsequent planned years forward from there. I also like the idea of something virtual in the fall, as Faraneh suggested, but think it might be difficult if held in “real time” due to time differences between our different locations. On the other hand, if it could be taped and posted on the website, so folks could view whenever it works for them, then that would be great. I will miss seeing everyone this year, but don’t think it will be possible to meet F2F.
I agree that postponing until 2021 is the best option. We’ve all been disrupted in so many ways these last few months, with likely more to come. One of the real joys of MDRS is meeting everyone in person, so I’m not sure that in this particular case a virtual meeting would do it justice. I’d rather wait until 2021 to see you all face to face.
Yes, I very much agree with the consensus on this. Letās hope that by autumn 2021 we can all meet in person again as that is the best part of MDRS, imho.
Yes, I definitely think the Manchester meeting should be postponed, and I’m glad to see that the Philly folks are fine with getting bumped to 2022. Maybe we’ll do LA in 2023? (if Atlanta doesn’t beat us out in the voting, that is)
I fully agree with delaying an in person meeting until 2021. I like the idea of something virtual and of a much smaller scale in 2020 to tide us over ā I agree with Nancy Dennis about the challenges of adding a full virtual conference to a schedule that already requires juggling beyond my skill level!
There seems to be enough support already, but I wanted to say I also support pushing all the meetings back one year, so Manchester hosts in 2021 (presuming they are willing!). It is only every few years that MDRS ventures outside North America, so it would be a shame for Manchester to miss out.
Similar to others, I am in favour of some form of low-key virtual meeting, however due to childcare commitments I wouldn’t be able to take on the responsibility of organising unfortunately.
Unless the airports remain blocked, I’d be happy to attend a live meeting in 2020 and would prefer that to delaying the meeting or holding something online. Although last-minute cancellation could be a financial risk, presumably any paid reservations would be kept as credit to be used for a rescheduled date. I’m eager because there is no guarantee that disruptions from this virus will have any specific end date and travel during the same time of year in 2021 and beyond could well be restricted. So if there is a period when travel and meetings of this size are allowed it would seem worthwhile to strike while the iron is hot than to risk indefinitely postponing.
I would be happy with postponing by a year and having something online to tidy us over (have made a specific suggestion for how this can be managed on the other blog forum but happy with any other ideas).
I think postponing until 2021 is best. Until then, virtual meetings are nice, but extending them to a large group is a lot of work. I am happy to benefit from other people’s labours, if that’s the consensus:)
Stay healthy everyone so we can see each other next year.
I completely agree we should postpone for a year. I have a feeling that, as restrictions are loosened, there may well be a second wave in the autumn/fall, particularly in the UK and US whose leaders haven’t exactly crowned themselves in glory so far (an under-statement!). I don’t think there is any choice.
The consensus already seems clear — we should push everything back a year and hope that by next September it will be safe to travel and congregate. I also like the idea of doing something virtually, but not sure what that could be, other than much shorter than the actual meeting. Let’s give that some thought.
I also agree that postponing makes the most sense. I am not very excited about zoom meetings, as zoom fatigue is the bane of my existence. But it might make sense to have micro-meetings that did not go more than an hour or two at a time in a given week. My two cents….
MDRS Manchester
YES. There is a lot of uncertainty at the moment. Personally, I would feel a lot better (and more likely to attend) if the meeting was postponed. in addition to safety concerns related to traveling and spending time in large groups , many of us will be potentially in the process of reopening labs etc at that time after months of no data collection etc.. It may just be better to bite the bullet and delay.
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I strongly agree with Simona
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Agreed, and Philly hosts are happy to shift to 2022!
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Strongly agree that we should postpone by one year, but perhaps we can hold a couple of special talks, or even a social to keep the group together until our next face-to-face meeting.
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I very much like this idea. And also think postponing is the most practical course of action. CNS, while great in many ways was also incredibly difficult for a handful of reasons. Most notably, as a parent it was near impossible to manage as an attendee with kids afoot and academic responsibilities at hand. While we may be back at schools come Fall (making a virtual conference easier to attend), this is not a given š¦
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I agree that a move of a year is very sensible given the current situation.
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I agree we are happy to host in 2022!
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In addition to agreeing with everyone who has posted so far on the matter of postponing Manchester to 2021, I very much like Faraneh’s suggestion of arranging for a couple of virtual talks (I assume that’s what she meant) that might be part of a virtual meeting or just something extra. I would also enjoy watching a powerpoint presentation by any one in our group, or, for that matter, a few pages of notes describing some planned experiments, describing a re-analysis of something published, describing a difference of opinion with something published, &c.
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I agree that postponing seems like the best option. I also like the suggestion of having some sort of interaction this year, whether it’s a few talks or a social. Another low-effort idea is to have each member select one paper/preprint/poster from their group that they’d like to highlight this year, and we can post links to the pdfs in a centralized location.
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I like this idea – sort of like an asynchronous conference. I liked the CNS poster presentations via YouTube, so something like that might work well.
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Postponing in 1-year is the most reasonable solution at this stage. I strongly agree with Simona.
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I agree with Simona. Hope y’all are doing well, considering the circumstances.
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I agree with the consensus that we should postpone until 2021 and push all subsequent planned years forward from there. I also like the idea of something virtual in the fall, as Faraneh suggested, but think it might be difficult if held in “real time” due to time differences between our different locations. On the other hand, if it could be taped and posted on the website, so folks could view whenever it works for them, then that would be great. I will miss seeing everyone this year, but don’t think it will be possible to meet F2F.
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I agree that postponing until 2021 is the best option. We’ve all been disrupted in so many ways these last few months, with likely more to come. One of the real joys of MDRS is meeting everyone in person, so I’m not sure that in this particular case a virtual meeting would do it justice. I’d rather wait until 2021 to see you all face to face.
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I also prefer postponing the MDRS meeting in Manchester to 2021! Meeting in person is so much more fun!
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Same here, probably best to postpone until 2021.
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Yes, I very much agree with the consensus on this. Letās hope that by autumn 2021 we can all meet in person again as that is the best part of MDRS, imho.
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I agree with the consensus of postponing one year.
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Yes, I definitely think the Manchester meeting should be postponed, and I’m glad to see that the Philly folks are fine with getting bumped to 2022. Maybe we’ll do LA in 2023? (if Atlanta doesn’t beat us out in the voting, that is)
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I fully agree with delaying an in person meeting until 2021. I like the idea of something virtual and of a much smaller scale in 2020 to tide us over ā I agree with Nancy Dennis about the challenges of adding a full virtual conference to a schedule that already requires juggling beyond my skill level!
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Yes, I think moving it back a year is the best option.
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There seems to be enough support already, but I wanted to say I also support pushing all the meetings back one year, so Manchester hosts in 2021 (presuming they are willing!). It is only every few years that MDRS ventures outside North America, so it would be a shame for Manchester to miss out.
Similar to others, I am in favour of some form of low-key virtual meeting, however due to childcare commitments I wouldn’t be able to take on the responsibility of organising unfortunately.
Aidan
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Unless the airports remain blocked, I’d be happy to attend a live meeting in 2020 and would prefer that to delaying the meeting or holding something online. Although last-minute cancellation could be a financial risk, presumably any paid reservations would be kept as credit to be used for a rescheduled date. I’m eager because there is no guarantee that disruptions from this virus will have any specific end date and travel during the same time of year in 2021 and beyond could well be restricted. So if there is a period when travel and meetings of this size are allowed it would seem worthwhile to strike while the iron is hot than to risk indefinitely postponing.
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I agree with postponing the meeting until next year.
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I would be happy with postponing by a year and having something online to tidy us over (have made a specific suggestion for how this can be managed on the other blog forum but happy with any other ideas).
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I think postponing until 2021 is best. Until then, virtual meetings are nice, but extending them to a large group is a lot of work. I am happy to benefit from other people’s labours, if that’s the consensus:)
Stay healthy everyone so we can see each other next year.
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I completely agree we should postpone for a year. I have a feeling that, as restrictions are loosened, there may well be a second wave in the autumn/fall, particularly in the UK and US whose leaders haven’t exactly crowned themselves in glory so far (an under-statement!). I don’t think there is any choice.
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Strongly agree that we should postpone by one year. Some virtual talks would be nice, but not sure it’s worth it to hold a virtual meeting.
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The consensus already seems clear — we should push everything back a year and hope that by next September it will be safe to travel and congregate. I also like the idea of doing something virtually, but not sure what that could be, other than much shorter than the actual meeting. Let’s give that some thought.
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I also agree that postponing makes the most sense. I am not very excited about zoom meetings, as zoom fatigue is the bane of my existence. But it might make sense to have micro-meetings that did not go more than an hour or two at a time in a given week. My two cents….
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