Small vs. Large Conferences

I presented my paper on immigration at SECOLAS yesterday, and like numerous times over the years I was struck by the fact that very often I get the best feedback and discussion at small conferences. I don’t know if other people have the same experience or not. In particular, at large conferences the “questions” frequently are just speeches, intended to highlight the knowledge of the audience members. One time, I had to think quickly about how to respond politely to such a speech—ostensibly directed at my paper—because it contained no question at all. People also seem more relaxed at small conferences, and so are less concerned about betraying their ignorance on a given topic. Yesterday, we were having a great discussion, and suddenly someone mentioned that time was up. An hour and forty-five minutes had really flown by.