This week I received the following email stating “The purpose of this letter is to formally invite you, on behalf of the Organizing Committee, to be the speaker at the upcoming “2nd International Conference on Nanotek and Expo” (Nanotek-2012).” This sounds very much like a desirable invited talk in my area of expertise, nanotechnology. The website of the organizer, OMICS looks good and the organization seems associated with a list of proper scientists as keynote speakers and members.

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Presenting your data at conferences is key for doing good science. However, finding the right conference can be as challenging as the actual experiments. Especially when you work interdisciplinary there is a lack of overview of what is organized and where. We scientists mostly rely on the occasional mail from our supervisor for our meeting ideas. Or on the few meeting posters that litter the hallway, who looks at them anyway.

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Last May I visited the first large scale international conference (CLEO) during my PhD. I was shocked about the enormous contrast with smaller scale (more specialized) conferences. In this post, I will discuss some of the advantages and disadvantages that struck me during this conference.

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Summary
In this post the ever increasing socializing with journal editors at conferences is critically discussed. Suggestions are put forward to make the social role of junior scientists more prominent at conferences  and preventing the successful scientists from taking it all.

Social dimension