Online conferences are good, but can’t match the in-person events for networking opportunities, according to a new paper from Curtin University staff.
Petra Dumbell and Gaby Haddow waded through the merch bags, the zoom calls and a welter of sessions to grab the event planner’s eternal post-COVID question by the lanyard and determine whether virtual or in-person events were superior.
The pair surveyed 225 library and information professionals across Australia and found that while virtual conferences tended to be cheaper and more easily accessible to a diversity of delegates, there were also distractions such as loss of focus and distractions when tuning in online.
In particular, librarians want to socialise when they commit to a conference, and Future Campus suspects many other staff across the sector would tend to agree, as they get ready to tear up the dancefloor with colleagues in post-pandemic celebrations.
