Attending Frontiers in Optics: In person or virtually
by By Amy Sullivan, Laser Mom
Written by Amy Sullivan,
Laser Mom
Are you excited about heading to Rochester?
Frontiers in Optics is less than one week away!
It’s funny – I must be honest and tell you that I usually complain about this conference being in Rochester and wish that it were somewhere more interesting. I often tell students that it is held there so that there will not be any motivation to skip sessions. Because, really, if the conference is on a sunny beach, who wants to be in a cold, air conditioned conference room?
But Rochester is quite beautiful in the fall. I brought a group of students a couple of years ago, and enjoyed a quiet walk along the river one afternoon:
And one evening, we were all leaving the last session, walking across the glass bridge from the convention center to the hotel and everyone just stopped and stared as we watched the sun set over the city. It was a lovely way to end the day:
I have also noticed all the interesting off-site events that are going on this year like the tour of the Laboratory of Laser Energetics Lab at the University of Rochester (Monday from 3:30 – 6:30 PM) and even more fun (because many of us are still kids at heart), the trip to the National Museum of Play (Tuesday from 10 AM to 12 PM).
If the weather is nice, the trees are changing color and with these fun side trips, it may be hard to convince ourselves to sit in the conference center all day. Though, there are so many interesting talks, it will be hard to decide what to do.
Unfortunately, I have discovered that planning a trip without or traveling with a one year old are both difficult options and will not be able to make it to Rochester this year. I am really disappointed to miss out on being there.
I am not going to miss everything, though! For those of you who cannot be there, some sessions will be recorded and available to watch from a distance, including the plenary session. I am really looking forward to hearing the talks despite not being there. If you want to find out which sessions will be recorded, go to the
Frontiers in Optics Conference Program Page and click on “Download the Agenda of Sessions.” All of the recorded sessions are marked with an arrow and there are a lot of them! This will be a great way for me to virtually attend the conference.
Posted: 9 Oct 2012 by By Amy Sullivan, Laser Mom