Read on Twitter
For the last 3 days I have been tweeting about #Distribute2020 —a virtual conference by @culanth and @SocietyVisAnth. This is not a conference that was forced online by COVID-19, but part of a longer experiment in virtual conferencing discussed here: https://culanth.org/about/about-the-society/announcements/reflections-on-displace18
Honestly, I didn't participate (or fully understand) #Displace18 - I didn't feel tech savvy enough to prepare a virtual presentation, and I felt like the main reason I go to conferences is to meet and interact with colleagues beyond just listening to their presentations.
My thoughts on this changed after following the #ReimagineAAA panel last year—this convo helped me see the radical decolonial possibilities of virtual conferencing and led me to want to join in https://culanth.org/fieldsights/reimagining-the-annual-meeting-for-an-era-of-radical-climate-change
Still, I thought I would probably just participate in my session and maybe poke into one or two other things, but I didn't think I would get absorbed into "conference land" without having traveled and gathering in person with attendees. However, that was not the case...
I found myself really tuned in and actually *more* engaged with the virtual conference than I often am with in-person ones. I paused my other work, stopped checking my emails, and told my friends I was "at a conference" and would get back to them after Sunday.
Granted: I was only able to do this because I don't have to manage childcare or family obligations. That is a real hurdle for many trying to "conference from home" And something to think about for future virtual conferences—e.j. in-person conferences often provide childcare.
My ability to focus was partly b/c social distancing = other commitments were cancelled. But also b/c I wasn't tired from traveling and was able to engage in self-care (eating well, resting) and not feeling the sensory overload of a huge conference center.
Also, the fact that the conference ran on "loops" with Q&A's in different time zones meant that I could rewatch panels, and participate in Q&A's with colleagues in different time zones. I walked away with true intellectual gains!
(Real talk: at big conferences I am often so overloaded that I walk away w/barely a memory of what people said—at best it pushes me look for stuff they have published but I have a really hard time remembering later on what was actually said during sessions, tbh)
I also felt like I engaged with folks in very different intellectual fields whose sessions I normally would not have made a priority to attend not to mention folks in parts of the world that likely would never have come to an in-person Anthropology meeting in North America.
(And this includes my own self, since I did not make it a priority to attend the last AAA meetings choosing instead to prioritize meetings in the global south and focus on self-care instead)
The moderated Q&A felt a bit constricting at first (particularly as one guilty of often bundling 3 questions w/a suggestion and an anecdote 
) but I saw that it had real potential for decolonizing Q&A in ways suggested by decolonial scholars e.j 
https://twitter.com/tuckeve/status/1141501422611128320?s=20
) but I saw that it had real potential for decolonizing Q&A in ways suggested by decolonial scholars e.j https://twitter.com/tuckeve/status/1141501422611128320?s=20
Lastly, it had great potential for accessibility and safety: no traipsing around non ADA compliant buildings, or avoiding sleaze-bag senior scholars at the bar!
Last night we heard from students (particularly POC) about how meaningful it was to see that a different and more diverse anthropology is possible—even as they battle microagressions and the reality of anthropology as "white public space" in their home institutions.
This is usually a key component of in-person conferencing for scholars of color, so it was heartening to see its expanded potentiality in virtual conferencing.
Anyway, those are my initial thoughts - but I look forward to the discussion b/w @anandspandian and the #Distribute2020 organizers starting NOW —these folks have lots to teach all of us to see virtual conferencing as more than just a plan B! https://twitter.com/culanth/status/1258965118358032384?s=20
Thank you @mayanthileilani @anandspandian @AndreaMuehleba1 @GabrielDattatre and Paul Christians for opening a new pathways for all of us! 
