As summer nears an end we enter the ialeUK conference season – and just a quick look at any conference listings will demonstrate the value of a good quality conference topic to help you stand out from the crowd. This year despite the lure of the World Congress in Beijing, Telford in Shropshire and the theme of Landscape Ecology and Ecosystem Services has proved to be popular with over 75 delegates booked in and colleagues attending from as far afield as New Zealand and Australia.
From a personal perspective the conference organisation has been hard work, but rewarding. In particular the issue of conference-related deadlines at a time of the year when (as an academic) I can usually relax about such things and concentrate on research and family holidays has been especially challenging. That being said I am sure that it will be a great conference, as always made by the attendees and their knowledge and interest in landscape ecology rather than any problems with the minutiae like the quality of the biscuits…now where are those Hobnobs just in case.