Astronomy conference economics

For the past few years, I’ve been attending computer science conferences when I can. I’m usually there to talk about the unique challenges of astronomy’s big data or how you test the accuracy of an algorithm that uses a human being as part of the data processing. These meetings are fundamentally different in two amazing ways: the expectation is that the majority of attendees are there to learn, and the speakers are invested in doing the best job they can because they are getting paid.

These two differences create an environment where the speakers want to shine, and the attendees are <gasp> actually paying attention.

It is frankly punishing to give an invited talk in astronomy. I generally have to pay my own way to get there (out of pocket, or out of grants that also pay my salary), including paying a several hundred dollar registration fee. Then, in some cases, my name and image is used to promote the event, and I’m pestered by organizers to advertise the event. Put another way, I get to pay for the privilege to do extra work and be used. The audience is generally sitting there, laptops open, checking their email and writing their own presentations instead of focusing on me.

In computer science, everything is different. Typically, a nice human will ask what airline I would like to fly, where I would like to stay, and things will magically…