I'm sitting at the gate at the Helsinki airport, waiting for the my flight. I'm on to Birmingham, England and the University of Warwick, where I'll give another talk Monday and stay until Friday, at which point I'll return to Missoula.
The conference here in Helsinki was as good as such a big conference (400+ attendees) can be. I was happy with how my talk went and saw several that inspired me. I'm not one to attend a ton of talks at these big meetings. If the topic interests me, I'll go, otherwise, I'd prefer to hide out somewhere and work or think, drink too much coffee, go for runs, and most important of all, cultivate connections with my colleagues/collaborators/friends.
When I started out in this business, I thought science was entirely about having a good idea, seeing it through to a result, and then communicating the result in a paper or talk. On the surface, this appears to be the case, but after 15 years in the game (I started my PhD in 2000), I now feel that relationships are just as important. Don't get me wrong, good science is not possible without good ideas, but good ideas don't exist in a vacuum, rather they arise from within communities of people devoted to the advancement of their small corner of science. Being a productive member of such a community requires a commitment to a way of life that's not easy, hence the need for the support and friendship of others. Not to mention that it's a pleasure of life to build friendships while creating new science and to create new science with friends.
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