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#Post#: 18256--------------------------------------------------
Re: Babies at conferences?
By: mime Date: November 5, 2018, 5:35 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Lilac link=topic=788.msg18231#msg18231
date=1541447471]
[quote author=DaDancingPsych link=topic=788.msg18197#msg18197
date=1541426243]
[quote author=collakat link=topic=788.msg18190#msg18190
date=1541419113]
[quote author=Winterlight link=topic=788.msg18183#msg18183
date=1541389413]
I think conferences should look into offering onsite child care,
since many parents cannot leave their child/children home for
varying reasons. However, children should not be attending
panels/sessions/meetings. People need to be able to hear, and a
cranky child- or a happy one- can get very noisy very fast.
[/quote]
I disagree, it brings a lot of extra legal and cost issues. If I
want to attend a conference, I have to make alternative
arrangements for my little one. When she was a baby, I did not
attend overnights or full days events, I made my required hours
in other ways to maintain my certifications.
[/quote]
Aleko has already outlined many issues that might make this
difficult. I, as a childfree participant, would be less happy to
know that my conference dollars were going to childcare. I am a
no frou frou kind of attendee. If I can avoid paying for
unnecessary, pricey extras (ie. lunch or unnecessary paper),
then I would prefer to do just that.
This is a tricky one, because I know how difficult childcare can
be, especially for babies who may still be nursing. I hate to
see anyone not be included in something that could booster their
career, but I also hate being disrupted during a presentation
(especially when the money came out of my own pocket!) I would
say that deciding to have a family means that you may have to
make a few sacrifices along the way. (My childfree choices have
brought sacrifices, too.) It might mean that you cannot attend a
conference or need to make other arrangements for childcare, but
I think that that is most fair option for everyone.
[/quote]
I agree with this. All of our personal lifestyle choices bring
costs and benefits. I would not want my professional conference
dollars being used to provide a benefit for only some attendees.
Having Plan A, Plan B and Plan C for child care is pretty much
Parenting 101.
[/quote]
I wasn't interpreting the conferences that accommodate kids as
having spread the cost to everyone. I was assuming child care
was a "for an additional cost of $XX, there are the following
child care resources..." I guess that's one of those things
where the organizers and the attendees have to decide what's
worth it to them. I could see it if they had lots of different
free services for different wants and needs, but if that's the
only covered service they're offering, that would seem weird to
me.
#Post#: 18261--------------------------------------------------
Re: Babies at conferences?
By: guest657 Date: November 5, 2018, 5:57 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
Conference organizers are running a business. Presumably they
allow babies because it increases their attendance, or is good
PR for the organization which they hope will lead to more
membership or attendance in the future.
Parents' career choices are their own to manage. If they pay a
professional price for bringing children, they are adults and
can do that risk/benefit calculation on an individual basis.
Disgruntled attendees who think an unauthorized baby has been
smuggled in can complain to an on-site rep and ask for the child
to be removed.
If they think a policy allowing babies is wrong, they can
complain to the organizers, ask for a refund, refuse to attend
the next year, gather a group to file a joint complaint, or any
combination thereof. In business, you vote with your dollars.
Optional on-site childcare would be a good thing in many cases,
but I should think the costs of insurance and local regulations
or certification requirements might make it impractical. You
can't just book an extra conference room and declare it a
daycare for the day - many locales require specific
configurations, amounts of space per child, child/caregiver
ratios, site inspections, outside playspace, and so forth.
If a conference allows parents to bring babies, it is not rude
for them to do so.
#Post#: 18263--------------------------------------------------
Re: Babies at conferences?
By: Hmmm Date: November 5, 2018, 6:38 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=QueenFaninCA link=topic=788.msg18230#msg18230
date=1541446882]
[quote author=Hmmm link=topic=788.msg18227#msg18227
date=1541443400]
But why does the child have to go with the mom to the
conference? Why can't she find alternative care for the day?
[/quote]
Do you know how long it takes and how hard it is to find
reliable, high quality infant care where you live? Now take this
to a town (and possibly a country) where you have never been
before. And you only need it for at most a handful of days. Any
idea how expensive this unicorn is should you find it?
When our son was 5 months old (and still exclusively breastfed),
we took him with us to a conference abroad that both my husband
and I (we work in the same field) attended. During the
presentations in the morning we would sit next to the door so
that in case he got noisy, we would be out of the room in
seconds. Thanks to jetlag he actually slept through the morning
sessions. In the afternoon there were poster session where you
essentially walk around and talk to people in small groups. We
had him in a sling. He was happy (unless hungry or in need of a
diaper change) interacting with people (who would smile and wave
at him).
[/quote]
Yes, actually, I do remember having to find high quality child
care where I lived. And I also found it a few times when I was
traveling. It's not as much of a "unicorn" as often implied. I'm
in the last 3rd of my career, one that is male dominated in a
male dominated industry. I've always found a way to balance my
child's well being and the demands of my career. If I'd had the
option of my husband stay home while I attended a conference,
that would have been our preferred solution.
#Post#: 18265--------------------------------------------------
Re: Babies at conferences?
By: AtHomeRose Date: November 5, 2018, 7:29 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Jem link=topic=788.msg18235#msg18235
date=1541453419]
I don't think it is realistic to expect that a woman could
exclusively nurse her child and not pump while at work for any
length of time. Unless the mother worked from home, she would
need to have her baby with her while at work, which frankly
seems like way too much to ask of any employer. I exclusively
breastfed my daughter for the three months I was on maternity
leave, and then nursed/pumped until she was a year old. My
company allowed me breaks to pump, but I would not have dreamed
of announcing that I wanted to exclusively breastfeed my child
so I should be allowed to have her with me at all times while at
work. I think if a woman wants to exclusively breastfeed and not
pump, she can certainly make that choice, but I think it would
be unreasonable to expect this to not affect her job.
[/quote]
You might not think it is realistic but those are the reasons I
have actually encountered. I guess I assumed some of these folks
if not most or all are on maternity leave or are working from
home for a certain period of time (not at all unusual for my
profession) but still want to maintain their careers during that
time. I have not asked as it seemed irrelevant to letting them
bring an infant to our conference.
I did quite a few career things while on maternity leave, there
are certain annual thing that are expected if you want to keep
relevant and I did them to maintain my career.
#Post#: 18266--------------------------------------------------
Re: Babies at conferences?
By: MOM21SON Date: November 5, 2018, 7:32 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=QueenFaninCA link=topic=788.msg18230#msg18230
date=1541446882]
[quote author=Hmmm link=topic=788.msg18227#msg18227
date=1541443400]
But why does the child have to go with the mom to the
conference? Why can't she find alternative care for the day?
[/quote]
Do you know how long it takes and how hard it is to find
reliable, high quality infant care where you live? Now take this
to a town (and possibly a country) where you have never been
before. And you only need it for at most a handful of days. Any
idea how expensive this unicorn is should you find it?
When our son was 5 months old (and still exclusively breastfed),
we took him with us to a conference abroad that both my husband
and I (we work in the same field) attended. During the
presentations in the morning we would sit next to the door so
that in case he got noisy, we would be out of the room in
seconds. Thanks to jetlag he actually slept through the morning
sessions. In the afternoon there were poster session where you
essentially walk around and talk to people in small groups. We
had him in a sling. He was happy (unless hungry or in need of a
diaper change) interacting with people (who would smile and wave
at him).
[/quote]
Most likely some people interacted with him to be polite, that
doesn't mean they thought it was ok for him to be there. I have
been in many situations that were not meant for babies or
children and was always polite. But trust me, it certainly was
talked about amongst peers.
#Post#: 18268--------------------------------------------------
Re: Babies at conferences?
By: AtHomeRose Date: November 5, 2018, 7:37 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=Anon4Now link=topic=788.msg18261#msg18261
date=1541462265]
Conference organizers are running a business. Presumably they
allow babies because it increases their attendance, or is good
PR for the organization which they hope will lead to more
membership or attendance in the future.
Parents' career choices are their own to manage. If they pay a
professional price for bringing children, they are adults and
can do that risk/benefit calculation on an individual basis.
Disgruntled attendees who think an unauthorized baby has been
smuggled in can complain to an on-site rep and ask for the child
to be removed.
If they think a policy allowing babies is wrong, they can
complain to the organizers, ask for a refund, refuse to attend
the next year, gather a group to file a joint complaint, or any
combination thereof. In business, you vote with your dollars.
Optional on-site childcare would be a good thing in many cases,
but I should think the costs of insurance and local regulations
or certification requirements might make it impractical. You
can't just book an extra conference room and declare it a
daycare for the day - many locales require specific
configurations, amounts of space per child, child/caregiver
ratios, site inspections, outside playspace, and so forth.
If a conference allows parents to bring babies, it is not rude
for them to do so.
[/quote]
Interesting take on conferences as a business and voting with
your dollar. I have never run a For-Profit conference and never
heard of one for my field. The conferences I have been involved
with are put on by the professional society for its member and
others wanting to access the specialties of the members. It has
always been about supporting the maximum amount of members and
encouraging diversity and growth in our field, not about making
money (you don't want to run in the red but other than that
money is not the goal).
#Post#: 18279--------------------------------------------------
Re: Babies at conferences?
By: Dr. F. Date: November 5, 2018, 8:46 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I think I have a different experience than most people here. I
attend scientific professional meetings, hosted by the
societies, most summers. They tend to have available child-care
(you reserve a spot, but pay yourself), and many people bring
babies. Most don't bring babies into the sessions, at least that
I've noticed, but they're there, and present at the informal
dinners/picnics that the society hosts.
I've never had a problem with it. I've always thought it rather
nice that we can take a female geneticist seriously, even if
she's holding a baby during the networking conversation. I think
it helps that scientists often marry other scientists, so it's
usually a couple sharing child-care during the conference, so
there's a whole lot of baby-swapping that goes on. Of course,
I've also never been annoyed by a baby crying during a session,
either, so perhaps I've been lucky.
#Post#: 18301--------------------------------------------------
Re: Babies at conferences?
By: collakat Date: November 6, 2018, 4:45 am
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=AtHomeRose link=topic=788.msg18268#msg18268
date=1541468228]
Interesting take on conferences as a business and voting with
your dollar. I have never run a For-Profit conference and never
heard of one for my field. The conferences I have been involved
with are put on by the professional society for its member and
others wanting to access the specialties of the members. It has
always been about supporting the maximum amount of members and
encouraging diversity and growth in our field, not about making
money (you don't want to run in the red but other than that
money is not the goal).
[/quote]
Interesting, All the professional organisations I belong to,
report more income from their conferences than membership fees.
I have never seen a child at any of these.
#Post#: 18363--------------------------------------------------
Re: Babies at conferences?
By: mime Date: November 6, 2018, 1:01 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
I'm curious to know what type of professional conferences are
more welcoming and less welcoming to babies. Some fields, as Dr
F suggests, have made a greater effort to accommodate mothers
(and fathers, but it still falls more on mothers these days).
Some fields can't be strongly characterized as seeking to make
things easier. Some fields are highly male-dominated, where
missed opportunities for mothers is not as major an issue as
other problems.
For me, my field has been moving from somewhat male-dominated
(say, 70/30 when I started my career) to slightly dominated
(maybe 60/40 now). Not like my first field of study where
calling it 90/10 was a stretch. I can imagine different
attitudes in more balanced professions. These are likely factors
in which types of professional conferences would consider the
presence of babies to be acceptable.
For me, I'd still call it a distraction. To people in my field
it wouldn't convey "successful career and life balance" so much
as "unable to successfully manage time and resources." Maybe
attitudes will change in future decades, but that's where we are
now, and that's where I am. We're paid enough in my field to
hire childcare, and we're expected to do so when we interact
with colleagues.
it is very interesting to see everyone's perspective on this,
for sure!
#Post#: 18364--------------------------------------------------
Re: Babies at conferences?
By: Jem Date: November 6, 2018, 1:10 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
[quote author=pjeans link=topic=788.msg18363#msg18363
date=1541530890]
...
For me, I'd still call it a distraction. To people in my field
it wouldn't convey "successful career and life balance" so much
as "unable to successfully manage time and resources." Maybe
attitudes will change in future decades, but that's where we are
now, and that's where I am. We're paid enough in my field to
hire childcare, and we're expected to do so when we interact
with colleagues.
...
[/quote]
100% agreed.
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