Posted by Erol Abit on January 18, 1999 at 09:04:01:
What purposes do rug conferences serve?
One and only one answer to this question is "academical; the rug knowledge production, its exchange and commercial; rug production, its improvement and its exchange (selling&buying)", isn't it?
Even I have never attended any rug conference, I can imagine how they are held since I am familiar with other conferences. I think the rug conferences have a wide spectrum in the range of from purely academic to purely commercial. Sometimes, an "academic conference" may result in a "commercial conference" when the organizers don't state their intensions clearly. This may happen in any field. Now I am going to point to another aspect:
Although I am not claiming that "rug conferences" are "ruggies conferences", their locality character seems to show so. I prefer to use this terminology "ruggies conference" and similarly, in another field, "scientist conferences" instead of "(any branch of) science conferences". But still there is a point we are missing in the usage of word "ruggies conferences" if all representators, including the weavers too, of rug field are not implied to be included in this rug word.
In the usual usage of "ruggies", ruggies are nonintentionally described as ones who are producing and exchanging rug knowledges.
While ruggies, in this description, are producing rug knowledge, another community are producing rugs which are the end object at the end of rug road on which rug knowledge are the milestones and traffic rules etc. Then, ruggies according to my description are not only ruggies according to the usual description since it inludes the weavers too, who are natural members of this community and I can't call a conference without the weavers as a "ruggies conference".
Maybe it is better to keep the original meanings. That is, "ruggies" are only ruggies without the weaver community and then better to call such conferences "ruggies conferences" and other conferences are called as "rug conferences" when the weavers (rug producers, not knowledge producers) are included.
I wish you all success in these "ruggies conferences" and also wonder if the abstracts of paper, lectures, etc presented in these conferences are being published freely on any internet site.
Now an idea or proposal about "rug conference" (not ruggies conference): If a "rug conference or meeting" is considered to be organized so that it will address to all rug folks, it can be held in some proper places around the world, where the weavers will easily join. I think residents of many weaver regions will be willingful for hosting such a conference. Our town will perhaps be a candidate too even more proper places are available to do this.
I must now state clearly that such a conference will be neither purely academic nor purely commercial but a fifty-fifty mixture of academic and commercial which is more realistic.
Regards
Erol Abit
ps. I apologize if my post is irrelevant to current topic.