The Gordon Research Conference

I'm near Providence RI for the Gordon Research Conference on Visualization in Science and Education.

Do you know what are those conferences? They are not usual conferences with publications, proceedings and so on. The main idea is to join people from diverse fields but with a common interest to freely discuss and exchange ideas. For this reason it is strictly prohibited to make any reference to work presented at the conference.

To quote from the home page:

The Gordon Research Conferences promote discussions and the free exchange of ideas at the research frontiers of the biological, chemical and physical sciences. Scientists with common professional interests come together for a full week of intense discussion and examination of the most advanced aspects of their field. These Conferences provide a valuable means of disseminating information and ideas in a way that cannot be achieved through the usual channels of communication - publications and presentations at large scientific meetings.

My impressions till now:

• The atmosphere is the one of a college or school, not of a conference. No one seems urged to demonstrate anything
• Multidisciplinarity at the top! Psychologists, chemistry professors, educators, a documentary maker, biologists...
• Real interest for each other work
• Close contact with famous names in the visualization area: Pat Hanrahan, Barbara Tversky
  

Now I'm in the middle of a pre-conference workshop on Design Principles for Creating Effective Visualizations. More on this later.