Deeper and down

Do you have a favourite conference? Two. One is the Winter Animal Behavior Conference. This is an informal meeting of about 30 attendees convened at various sites in the Rocky Mountains of North America. It lasts a week, everyone gives a talk, and there is ample time for serious discussion both in the conference and on the ski slopes. I usually find the discussions on the slopes more rewarding; it is probably the cold mountain air. The other is the biennial conference of the International Society for Behavioral Ecology. This meeting is larger, but usually there are fewer than 1000 attendees. It always has a very international flavour, the presentations are of the highest quality, and the social atmosphere is also quite conducive to interaction.