Conferences are funny things. They’re a forum for presenting research as positively as possible, and for talking more candidly at the bar afterwards. Also, they are an opportunity to explore someone else’s campus and work environment. I did a little of the second yesterday.
An important part of Genome Informatics is the so-called "Birds of a Feather" sessions. These are short meetings of special interest groups within the conference participants. I attended the "regulatory elements" session. I’m interested in the internal logic and output of regulatory modules; not so much finding them in genomes but figuring out how they work. It was a big group, perhaps three or four dozen people.
As usual, we began by going around the room introducing ourselves. I thought this would take perhaps 10 or 15 minutes. You know the form: "Hi, I’m <name>. I work at <institute>. I’m interested in <topic>." I was wrong. The chair felt it necessary to ask two or three follow-up questions for each attendee, sometimes more. Almost 90 minutes later, I could hear Treebeard in my head: "I have told your names to the Entmoot, and we have agreed that you are interested in regulatory elements."
My head cold was picking up steam, so I scooted out for a few minutes. We were in one of the lab buildings, so I wandered off down the hall in search of somewhere private with decent drainage facilities, i.e. a bathroom. Not only did I find a rather nice one, I also found a print-out e-mail on the wall opposite its door: "Please do not flush your dead flies down the toilet. Use the biohazardous waste disposal units in your lab." I checked very carefully for mutant butt-biting flies before sitting down.
