Sunday September 27, 9:40 AM
Well, I’m back from four days in deepest Colorado, and it’s time to take stock.
One of the more frustrating things I’m asked when traveling is “so what are you getting out of this meeting?” Just occasionally, it’s tempting to answer “sleep deprivation, a bad back and a divorce.” But that would be gratuitously boorish – even if the question’s not that appropriate, it’s always asked with sincerity.
Over the past two years, I’ve traveled to over 80 work-related meetings, and in nearly every case it’s been at the organizers’ request. Usually I’m invited to speak because someone thinks I have have something worthwhile to say. Whether or not this is the case (and I’m sure some would question it), it’s usually the meeting organizers and attendees that benefit from me being there. The best I can hope for is a paid-for flight, the occasional honorarium, and enough stamina to get me back home reasonably intact.
So why do I do it? I certainly don’t have to. I could probably accept less than six invitations a year, and still do my current job well. It’s not the money – I usually speak for free. I don’t think it’s an ego thing, although it’s always nice to be asked to speak. And it’s certainly not the lure of visiting exotic places and meeting interesting people (I’m afraid the novelty soon wears off).
This latest trip to Colorado seemed a perfect opportunity to burst the travel-glamor bubble, or at least dent it – a long haul to some remote place at a time when I could ill afford to be away. As it turned out though, this was not a typical trip. And where I had hoped to play the sympathy card, I suspect readers were simply left thinking “lucky sod!”
In a strange way though, this exceptional trip has helped me understand better why, despite the hardships, I still accept invitations to participate in meetings that on the face of it don’t offer me much in return…
It’s worth dwelling for a second on those hardships, although as whinging is not an attractive trait, I’ll try and be brief. When I’m traveling I can’t sleep properly; I eat unhealthily; I spend long hours in cramped airplane seats; I work double time – catching up with the work I should be doing at the end of each day, often not getting to bed ’till after midnight; I miss my family; my kids have to manage without me; and my wife has to fill in for me at home. And when I get back, I’m usually so exhausted that it takes several days to reach equilibrium again (up to three weeks for international travel). And this doesn’t even touch on how long it takes to prepare for some meetings (a completely new presentation will take me 20 – 30 hours to prepare)
So what’s on the positive side of the scales? My presence at meetings helps maintain the authority and presence of the outfit I work for, although I sometimes think this is a marginal benefit. There’s occasionally the chance to develop new contacts, partnerships and collaborations. Sometimes I get to catch up with old friends and colleagues. And now and then I get to go to exotic placed that I wouldn’t usually visit.
But the most significant benefit is that, if I do my job right, people leave these meetings with a better sense of how to understand and address a specific challenge. Sometimes, amidst the hardships, I loose sight of this. But it’s important, and probably the biggest reason why I accept many of the invitations to speak at meetings that come across my desk.
Most of my time I’m asked to speak about nanotechnology – what it is, its potential, and how hurdles to reaching that potential can be overcome. It’s a subject I know a lot about, having worked on scientific, policy and social aspects of the technology for many years. It’s also something I feel strongly about, along with other emerging technologies – here we have the potential to create a better world for future generations, but only if we work out how to develop and handle these technologies wisely. Accepting invitations to speak to groups as diverse as educators to politicians and business leaders to environmental activists, gives me the chance to help people approach emerging technologies like nanotech from a position of understanding rather than uncertainty.
At the end of the day, this is worth more than the stress of travel and the occasional twinge of feeling under-valued and over-exploited!
To my surprise, the meeting at Kessler Canyon brought this home to me. This was a group with a clear purpose that I could contribute to. The value to them was being able to tap into my knowledge and experience. The value to me was seeing progress being made towards the safer handling of nanomaterials in the workplace. And even though the toll on my family and me was substantial, I think it was worth it.
There was also the added value. I got to visit a beautiful place. I had the chance to do things I haven’t done before. I was reminded that it’s good to be untethered from the internet sometimes. And I spent time getting to know a great group of people better and forging bonds that will last well into the future.
This was exceptional as far as trips go. But it brought back to me why I accept so many invitations to speak with so little apparent return. And it reminded me that, just occasionally, there’s unexpected value in these meetings that I should recognize and appreciate.
It also reminded me that I have a family that also needs me. Despite the success of this meeting, I really need to learn how to say “no” just a little more frequently than I currently do. After all, important as emerging technologies are, there are other things that are more important.
Something to chew over next time I hit the road… which I think is in about 8 days’ time!
Postscript
While I’m obviously writing from my own perspective here, I’m not alone on the pro bono invited talk circuit. On the nanotech circuit alone, there are many others who freely give up their time to talk to others about the opportunities and challenges of nanotechnology. And like me, they are faced with juggling family, work, and meeting organizers with little idea of what it takes to accept these invitations. Please don’t take them for granted as they wend their weary way around the world. And never assume that because they do this for free, that’s all they’re worth!
Follow the whole “On The Road” saga at http://2020science.org/category/on-the-road-again/
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
One of the things I admire most about you is your patience. Good spokespeople are few and far between, and the ability to answer the same questions asked over and over again by different people is not something I can do – my reaction is far more likely to be, ‘let me Google that for you,’ accompanied by a large sigh and an eyeroll. Your willingness to engage on both the 1:1 and 1:many levels, your enthusiasm for your subject(s) and, more than anything else, your graciousness are precisely what’s required. And they’re in short supply, if that’s any consolation at all.
I still think the insomnia and the caffeine consumption go hand in hand though. My Rx includes some melatonin and a strict ban on caffeine after 7PM. As well as more of that fresh air.
Thanks Ruth – appreciate the kind words
I’ve tried cutting the caffeine out, but to little effect – think all that British tea drinking has saturated my system!