Darcy Oishi

The problem with the professional communities I belong to is they are insular and relatively small. The entomologists, for instance, are rather small in number and, as with any group, there’s a rather small proportion are active in the community. What it means then is if you do a good job at something, or even if you’re just WILLING to do a job, it invariably means you get sucked into doing that job. My downfall was back in 1998 when I first helped out with the Pacific Entomology Conference. It all went down hill from there and to think, I only helped with A/V in one session. It snowballed. I started getting sucked into bigger conferences and bigger roles. Now, I'm involved in yet another conference. It’s a small one, but still, I'm tired of conference planning. The worst part of being a conference organizer is you seldom get to ENJOY it. I’ve already done three this year and this latest one I can’t say no to. I might as well go into the conference planning business. Yet another job alternative for me.