IFA Conference

[vulpes]

And with me going too, it looks like all the curators and consultants will be there. Wot no diggers?[?]

Liberal, dowsing antiquarian (reformed.

[Duchess]

quote:Originally posted by vulpes

And with me going too, it looks like all the curators and consultants will be there. Wot no diggers?[?]

Diggers can't afford to go, especially as they can't afford to be members of the IFA in the first place and therefore have to pay extra <Ducks as the next round of debate ensues>

I have been a few times and felt very outnumbered by the numbers of management and office-bound types. At Liverpool I could count the number of diggers I met or recognised on my fingers (and no I'm not a freak with more than 10 fingers & thumbs).

Enjoy the bun fight

D

I dig dead people

[BAJR Host]

Dodging the current buns.... ( and confessing that the only reasons I am going is because
a) its in Edinburgh
b) I am talking 3 times and giving a tour

but ..... the IFA did have a deal... go to the conference and the membership is reduced! (or is it the other way round?)

and there is also a dealfor subsidised travel to the conference for diggers (etc) though not well publisised (and also only availabel for IFA peeps - which I guess is understandable!)

Of course... the BAJR conference is FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE



Another day another WSI?

[kevin wooldridge]

There is no doubt that the cost of the IFA conference is prohibitive for lower paid IFA members. The fact that the cost of attending the conference is greater than the IFA minimum weekly salary for an experienced digger says a lot about the mind-set of the IFA. Even the offer of an IFA subsidy for lower paid members is less than generous, as there is still the stumbling block of taking a week off unpaid to attend. Try that one as a digger on day 1 of a 3-week contract with Midshire Arch Ltd and much belly laughter will ensue.

What might help is if the IFA could get its RAOs to allow IFA members of all grades to attend the conference with at least a 50/50 deal on conference fees and a right to paid time off. A more representative sample of the IFA membership might also make for more interesting papers/sessions.

[troll]

Seems to me that the Institute in question does`nt really want to hear our opinions.Least of all at their conference.The vine-leaf offer of subsidised IFA membership upon attendance could be seen as little more than conditional attendance.Join us or pay the full monty.Or don`t attend.I certainly won`t be able to make it-a new job and a short temporary contract and-a month in hand. It`s little wonder that some believe that the IFA are completely out of touch with reality-a huge number of full time workers out there simply don`t have the opportunity to contribute.All the same, I wish the IFA well and hope that the conference is a success.I also hope that tangible change is on the agenda....

..knowledge without action is insanity and action without knowledge is vanity..(imam ghazali,ayyuhal-walad)

[the invisible man]

To be fair it's all pretty much the same as any other professional institute conference. They're all very expensive and most people don't go to them.

We owe the dead nothing but the truth.

[deepdigger]

"Hosty giving tongue" shouldnt this be on the double entendre thread?

deep

[1man1desk]

The tone of this debate seems to imply that absolutely everyone that wants to go should be able to, and shouldn't be out of pocket. That just doesn't reflect reality in any profession. I haven't been for several years, and I'm not going this year even though it is in my home town. I do encourage members of my team to go, and the company pays.

For a start, cost considerations aside, all workers will find that there are times that they or their employers just can't afford the time to go, and that is perfectly fair. That particular aspect does hit temporary contract staff hardest - very hard for a company that has taken someone on for, say, a 4-week contract to wave bye-bye for 25% of their period of employment. As long as archaeologists work on those sorts of contracts, that will be a fact of life. Notwithstanding that, I used to be able to go more often when I worked on site than I can now that I am in consultancy.

Secondly, the more subsidy for low-paid members, the higher the fees for everyone else. The higher the fees, the larger the proportion of people needing subsidy, and so on ad infinitum. The whole thing (venues, accommodation, food, etc) has to be paid for somehow you know.

Finally, on one of Troll's particular points, why should non-members (who have not paid a subscription) get any subsidy, no matter how poor? It is the IFA's conference after all, and any subsidy would come out of the subscriptions paid by other individuals. I wouldn't expect IEMA to subsidise my (hypothetical) attendance at their conference, even though I do relevant work, while I am not a member.

1man1desk

to let, fully furnished

[Real Job]

The IFA conference isnt just like any other professional institute's conference: The IFAs stated aim is to represent all the profession and unlike many other professions, archaeology is made up of several disparate groups with different interests.

Field archaeologists are the worst off group within archaeolgy as well as being the group most likely to be unable to afford (in money and ability/support to get time off to attend) the IFA conference. The conference will be dominated by consultants, academics and people from the 'business' side of field archaeology and we can hardly expect them to have the best interests of field staff at heart.

The IFA needs to make itself truly representative of the profession. Which means (in addition to its current work):
-Higher pay minimums
-Lower joining fees for field staff
-Lower conference fee for field staff
-And, if its serious about becoming more representative, some sort of outreach scheme enabling non-memebers to come to the conference cheaply..

Of course it doesnt need to consider such things, but then it will remain utterly irrelevant to most field staff (except that it once published some guidelines and standards that became accepted as the industry rules).

[the invisible man]

quote:Originally posted by Real Job

The IFA conference isnt just like any other professional institute's conference: The IFAs stated aim is to represent all the profession and unlike many other professions, archaeology is made up of several disparate groups with different interests.

How does that differ to any other profession? It seems exactly the same to me.

As 1man says, who exactly is to pay for the conference then, if not those who attend?

We owe the dead nothing but the truth.