sleeps with fishes: monteray

Music: Engineers: Three Fact Fader (2009)

I returned from my trip to Monteray late yesterday, where I spent a few days at the annual Western States Communication Association Conference. I had a good trip, especially because I got to spend time with some friends whom I didn't really get to see at NCA in San Francisco a few months back. It was also quite interesting to attend a conference I haven't attended before; "Western," as it's called in slang, is quite different from the other regionals I have attended in the past ("Southern" and "Central"). I would describe it as more "laid back" and less stressful; the crowd is welcoming, and it seemed like meeting strangers was a little easier. When waiting in line for coffee, for example, folks would chat you up. That was nice.

The highlights of the trip, of course, are catching up with friends and doing a little business lite (met with my editors, who are a lot of fun even when there is work to discuss). My panel seemed to go well and smoothly, and was well attended. I didn't get much of a chance to venture out and explore the bay, as it was raining and cold on two of the three days, but with Matt, Ashley, Rob, and some friendly ASU folks I managed to get to the famed aquarium. The thing was super-pricey and more crowded than Disneyworld at peek season---but the seahorses and jellyfish were worth it. The jellyfish exhibit, in fact, is breathtaking and a psychedelic trip-out. I said more than once that the facility should have been piping in Pink Floyd tunes and we should have been dropping acid. It was pretty awesome.

Many folks have asked what I thought about the Western conference. The conference itself---that is, the panels and the people running the show---was quite good. The program was manageable but had variety; the staffing was super friendly; and vibe in general was welcoming. On Sunday night there was a "sock hop" with a bad, pop music wedding band. I was warned about public displays of affection. Yup. Spied a couple making out in public (just groping and tongue-kissing)---which you normally do not see at conferences (someone told me a story of getting an unwelcome show with an uncurtained room window as well). Anyhoo, the music was oozing cheese, but folks seemed to be having a blast on the dance floor. It was bizarre, but I admit I was amused (no, I didn't dance).

The conference location, however, was bad (not Monteray, but the hotel). This is the third time I've been to a conference in an isolated location: nothing but the hotel itself was there, and it took ten-buck cab-rides to get anywhere. NCA does this with its Miami location, and the Southern conference seems to have a habit of doing this "remote and isolated" thing routinely. I think it's a bad idea, because one can get that trapped-and-claustrophobic feeling. Worse, this means that food options are the hotel restaurants---a sports bar with expensive bar food, and a "fancy" eatery with tremendously overpriced, overcooked food and terrible service. The hotel---presumably an upscale Hyatt---was a bewildering Ewok-village kind of joint with dirty carpets and greasy dressers. The "open air" concept is probably great in non-rainy seasons, but the constant cold rain made getting about unpleasant. The view was of a golf course.

My final observation about place: Monteray is, apparently, the capital of piped-in music. It was everywhere. At the hotel, it was a constant stream of the stuff you'd hear in an outdated massage parlor or spa---they had speakers inside, outside, and in the bathroom. The aquarium was piping in what sounded like Little Mermaid tunes and Spongebob ditties. The Monteray airport had it piping in, too (eighties hits; I was amused to hear Foreigner). When you didn't hear piped-in music, it was the live band at the bar---bad jazz or "Girl from Ipanema" jams. It really sounded like a disjointed, slow-pan film created by Sophia Coppela but finished by David Lynch.

Overall, a fun trip despite the bad weather and the strangeness of the location. Because funding is tight and we're only reimbursed, more or less, for two conferences a year (or one, if we need to get to an archive for research or something like that), I doubt I will regularly attend a "regional" conference as I have for many years. I think of NCA and RSA as my two conferences to attend these days, and a boutique conference on the years when RSA is not happening. But this one was fun and a good social time. Increasingly, I think I look for sustained intellectual engagement on the page or in the classroom, and almost always on the invited talk, but not so much at the conference.

An image gallery of the trip is here.