Spent the day at the JMM. Due to sufficient internet connectivity and a lack of talks that I was super-interested in, I was able to get a significant amount of real work done, which is a plus. Somehow, even though I find it hard to concentrate when there is a lot going on in the office, I didn’t have any trouble focusing while sitting around in a hallway in the convention center.

I wanted to say that was my first time back at a math conference after my stint in computer science, but then I remembered that I went to MathFest a few years ago.

Main differences between math conferences and HPC conferences:

  1. No free booze at math conferences.

  2. No “free” stuff given out at math conference registration (and paid for by your conference fee).

  3. No swag in the exhibit hall at math conferences. (I am not counting candy or pens as swag.)

  4. Math conferences do not have ridiculous trade show booths. Many, many hours (and dollars) go into producing (and shipping) booths for Supercomputing.

  5. Badges and badge-holders are simpler at math conferences. HPC conferences also have a lot of badge flair, in which one gets tiers of ribbons to stick on one’s badge as part of an academic dominance display.

  6. There is only a slight pretence of checking badges at JMM, mostly to keep the unregistered from drinking the AMS’s free coffee. At the computing conferences, they cared a lot about checking badges.