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[whiteknight]

The Good

1. Communication was much easier. Moving the messaging system online helped alleviate the crowd of historians waiting in line for one of a dozen computers.

2. The interview environment is much better. The "cattle call" area was much smaller and less conducive to overwhelming feelings of stress and impending doom.

3. This is only marginally AHA-related, but it was nice to see a group of American soldiers applauded as they walked through Atlanta's Hartsfield airport.

4. Again, only marginally AHA-related, but seeing patrons and servers in Hard Rock Cafe stand on chairs and sing "YMCA" was a hoot.

5. While I didn't see many "cool" places to eat (Hard Rock hardly qualifies), there were more amenities in downtown Atlanta than there were in, say, Birmingham, where the SHA was held in November. (Worst.conference.location.EVER.)

The Bad

1. The homogenization of the professional dress code. Historians apparently wear only two styles of glasses (ancient, oversized, and ill-fitting and modern, bulky, and stylish). There were only two styles of haircuts (part-and-comb and messy) and two kinds of suits (dark blue and black) for men. Women, thankfully, were more diverse and stylish in their dress.

2. The conference layout. Dividing the conference among three hotels sucked. If one stayed in the Hilton, one had to walk across the street to the job register. (More on the walking later.) If one stayed in the Marriot, one had to walk across the street to do almost anything else. If one stayed in the Hyatt, good luck.

3. The scheduling of the panels. I am not sure how the AHA can address this problem, but those interviewing on both sides of the table rarely get to enjoy the panels. Honestly, what AHA suit decided that having a campus interviewing panel during the last block of sessions on Sunday morning was a brilliant idea? Why not move that panel to a better time, which begs the question: when would a better time have been?

The Ugly

1. Jaywalking. On at least two occasions, historians challenged the orders of police officers telling them not to jaywalk. On Thursday, one historian was (presumably) arrested after struggling with a police officer; on Saturday, another historian asked a police officer if he "didn't have anything better to do" than accost jaywalkers and that he "had to get to a panel." The historian was last seen being questioned by the police officer. Sad, isn't it, that some members of the profession cannot follow simple orders from authority figures who are trying to keep them from losing their lives on Atlanta's mean streets. Are they so self-absorbed and arrogant that they think themselves above the law?

2. Lack of compassion. As if the above behavior were not bad enough, several dozen historians exhibited even more reprehensible behavior. At MARTA's airport stop, I witnessed approximately 200 people, including several dozen historians, walk past a woman on the platform who was obviously in distress. The woman was feeling faint and was crouched down with her face in her hands. For a profession that presents itself as caring for humanity, the lack of concern for, as it turned out, one of its own was striking. I suppose one cannot be concerned as an historian with live people, only dead, or maybe the individual has to serve a political purpose. Shame on everyone who walked by that woman, historian or not, but shame especially on the historians!

[lostintranslation]

"While I didn't see many "cool" places to eat (Hard Rock hardly qualifies), there were more amenities in downtown Atlanta than there were in, say, Birmingham, where the SHA was held in November. (Worst.conference.location.EVER.)"

Sorry to hear that Birmingham was so terrible for you.  Actually we had a great time. 

Cheers!

[whiteknight]

B'ham is an okay town, but I didn't like the location. Granted, the conference was supposed to be in New Orleans, so the SHA did the best it could.

[lostintranslation]

Yes, it was supposed to be in New Orleans but at least it will be back there in 2008.  Maybe since I now live in a very rural area, Birmingham seemed like a booming metropolis!  At least I had a couple very good Thai meals there which I cannot enjoy where I am presently living.

[justkidding]

We were obviously not at the same AHA.

Everything about Atlanta was awful.  I have been attending conferences for many years and have been to Philadelphia, Washington, Seattle, Boston,  St. Louis, Cambridge, Milwaukee, Miami, San Diego, Las Vegas, New York, Paris and Florence (off the top of my head) and found Atlanta to be, by far, the worst place for a conference yet. 

Spreading out all the necessary bits was idiotic.  I didn't have to interview, thank the gods, so I don't know about the cattle call area.  But unless they offered spa treatments to the people who had just left, I cannot imagine that the improvements matter. 

People were arrested for jaywalking.  Nice, reasonable people.  Which actually explains something about Atlantans.  If no one in Atlanta is expected to understand on their own that it is unsafe to cross the street when traffic is present, it is little surprise that even the uniformed tour guides didn't know where anything was and were fundamentally incapable of expressing even that.  Jaywalking?  Well, at least we know that there is no real crime in Atlanta if they have time to harass people for crossing the street.   

Atlanta is a poor excuse for a city. No good restaurants, no good public transporation, nothing to see, a terrible museum, Cokeland (or something equally repulsive), hideous sprawl and traffic as far as the eye could see (which wasn't very far, thanks to the hazy smog that hangs over the city) and a general nastiness demonstrated by anyone who lived and worked in the city rank it just below Capetown, South Africa on my list of places I've experienced. Yuk.

The only that was even tolerable about this conference is that one was able to spend some quality time with one's friends.  But apparently the OP didn't have much use for other historians, so I suppose hu didn't appreciate that either. 

And while I am sure that all of the nervous, hungry, unemployed graduate students and recent Ph Ds will heed your advice and will run out to spend their millions on designer suits that expresses their individual personalities well, I cannot really believe you think that is worthy of comment.

I won't even comment on the reprehensible treatment a foreign national was subject to at the hands of the cretinous local police. I can only say that if the OP actually believes that knocking an older gentleman to his knees is acceptable behavior in response to crossing the street, then I am sure that this city also seems like a reasonable place to be. 

[activa_vita]

At MARTA's airport stop, I witnessed approximately 200 people, including several dozen historians, walk past a woman on the platform who was obviously in distress. The woman was feeling faint and was crouched down with her face in her hands. For a profession that presents itself as caring for humanity, the lack of concern for, as it turned out, one of its own was striking. I suppose one cannot be concerned as an historian with live people, only dead, or maybe the individual has to serve a political purpose. Shame on everyone who walked by that woman, historian or not, but shame especially on the historians!

This is not accusatory, but I'm curious about what you were able to do to help . . .

[whiteknight]

I asked her if she was okay. When she indicated that she was sick, I told her that I would wait on the platform until it passed so that she would not be alone. When she was ready, I stood in front of her on the escalator, in case she fainted.

At the bottom, I advised her to get a skycap to help her. I actually had to backtrack to check in to my flight and we talked for a bit while checking in. Turns out, she is originally from the state in which I now teach.

[cackalacker]

Atlanta is a poor excuse for a city. No good restaurants, no good public transporation, nothing to see, a terrible museum, Cokeland (or something equally repulsive), hideous sprawl and traffic as far as the eye could see (which wasn't very far, thanks to the hazy smog that hangs over the city) and a general nastiness demonstrated by anyone who lived and worked in the city rank it just below Capetown, South Africa on my list of places I've experienced. Yuk.

All right, Hyperbolus,

I grant you that Atlanta has some problems -- public transportation being one of them (then again people mentioned being in the MARTA station, so someone went somewhere)-- but this statement is 1) ignorant and 2) absurd. 

No good restaurants? Anywhere? My, my. Did you actually leave the WestinHiltonMarriott nexis before making that call?  Atlanta has some fabulous, funky, freaky neighbhorhoods (Little 5, East Atlanta, parts of Decatur, parts of Midtown, even Virginia Highlands bless its yuppie heart is a good place to go find food), many with great food, shops, artists, and musicians. It's the gay capital of the Southeast and a place where

Nothing to see?  Hmm, the Sweet Auburn and the King Center? Walkable from the hotel.  Sure, the World of Coke is no museum, but who on earth would actually go to something called "The World of Coke" anyway (okay, there's an investment banker on blow joke in there somewhere, but I'm too lazy to make it). Did you try the High Museum of Art, perchance. No? Ah.  The Botanical Gardens? No? Ah.  The new aquarium?

Yes, the conventiony corner of town does suck. But it's a small section of a big city. If you didn't manage to drag yourself out of the Hilton and hop a cab out of Convention City, don't make blanket statements. You didn't "experience" Atlanta at all.

Irritably,
Cackalacker

[cackalacker]

It's the gay capital of the Southeast and a place where

"A place where...WHAT," you might ask. I don't remember.  I need more coffee (or, judging from the way my temper spiked in the last post, less coffee).

Something about the bourgie black community.  And the black bohos and how the diversity of African American life is visible across the spectrum in a way you don't see in a lot of other (especially Northern) cities. But I lost my thought.

Muddledly,
Cackalacker

[rekishi]

I thought the staff of MARTA and the Hilton/Marriott did a wonderful job of handling so many people. I left a valuable folder at the Marriott and the hotel sent it to me overnight. Also, I have a friend who left luggage on a train. He informed the staff and they called the next stop and had it returned to him in about 30 minutes. Try having that happen in NYC.

[losemygrip]

Yeah, you gotta love "justkidding"'s post.  Where are you from, dude?  New York? Boston?  Some other eastern seaboard city?  What a pathetically provincial attitude you have.  How much of Atlanta did you actually see?  That "no good restaurants" remark is laughable.  Mary Mac's Tea Room is an institution.

I think this is good evidence that people find whatever they're looking for.