Benefits of Electronic Conferences Cited by On-line Meeting 'Attendees'

Abstract

The responses are in from a survey of mostly academic attendees at the first on-line chemistry conference, held this summer, and they're mostly enthusiastic. Participation in the on-line meeting converted many conferees into ardent supporters of electronic conferencing as a medium with enormous untapped potential for facilitating scientific communications. On-line meetings based on current networking technology are not likely to totally replace conventional face-to-face conferences any time soon. But all bets are off for the future, when the information superhighway envisioned by Vice President Al Gore and others becomes increasingly capable of transmitting images, sounds, and text instantaneously. The computer conference, Applications of Technology in Teaching Chemistry, (C&EN, Feb. 15, page 25) was held from June 14 to Aug. 20. It was sponsored by the Committee on Computers in Chemical Education of the American Chemical Society's Division of Chemical Education, and organized by chemistry professor...