One of the things I have missed most about in-person conferencing is that my ideas get to cross-pollinate. They get to mix and mingle with other ideas, and I come back with novel fruits to share with my students.
It can happen in lecture sessions, in concert sessions, even in the meal conversations with colleagues and friends. (Friends I have now not seen in 2+ years…)
After so long without cross-pollinating my ideas with others, my own ideas can start to seem…not exactly stale, but bland. There’s no life to the fruit, because it’s the same fruit I’ve been eating for a long time.
I can’t wait for the chance to refresh my own ideas by letting them meet the ideas of others.