We arrived with pop up stands, information sheets/booklets etc about the Centre, we had copies of the Critical African Studies Journal, which is edited by staff members at CAS and a bundle of information about ABORNE the African Borderlands Network that Wolfgang Co-ordinates. So we arrived (not quite on masse, but close enough) and set -up the table at the conference centre. The stall/information desk was (wo)manned by a combination of staff and students across the conference days, speaking to conference delegates and answering endless questions. I was also doing a bit of “corporate advertisement” by wearing my CAS T-shirt.
At the Conference there were around 1200 delegates from all around the world. It was busy but that didn’t mean we didn’t have time to socialise and have some fun. Sweden is generally quite expensive but we met up most evenings. The first day was the official opening of the conference followed by the dinner – free food and time to meet new people. The second evening was the CAS Wine Reception, which was really well attended, we ran out of wine and many people commented how much they enjoyed it. The wine reception launched the CAS@50 Conference which will take place in Edinburgh in June 2012. Lots of people enquired about the conference, I nearly lost my voice by the end of the night from talking to so many people. Later that evening there was a gathering with Wolfgang and some of the ABORNE group, we “partied” in the park!! Friday was then the CAS dinner and a time to wind down and relax (or in my case, start to panic about presenting my paper the next day). I was the last of the CAS cohort to present, which did mean I got to relax earlier in the week. Saturday went well for me in the morning; then there was the closing ceremony in the (pink) Castle. There were lots of stairs to climb and lots of speeches, though Paul kept his short!! – He did get us all to say “cheers” or something similar and I suspect half the room lost their champagne in their enthusiasm. It was officially announced at the Closing Ceremony that the next hosts for ECAS5 in 2013 would be Lisbon, Portugal.
It was my first time speaking at an international conference, so I was quite happy to come out of the panel in one piece. CAS was very well represented, the stall seemed to be well received and I’ve never been asked so many questions about the MSc and PhD programmes! In the course of the conference someone tried to sell me James’ book, I was mistaken for being Swedish (several times), I saw more bicycles than cars, I walked for miles, I met loads of news people and most of all I really enjoyed the experience of attending this event!
Alli Coyle, PhD Student, Centre of African Studies
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