I have invited a guest speaker for a seminar in the department. This is my first independent invitation to a guest researcher at our institute ( actually this is my first ever independent invitation at any institute). Anyway the speaker has to drive 2 hours and I have been thinking about all the ways the visit can go.
For instance, I can have the seminar in the morning (10ish) and then make him meet my group, meet me, meet other faculty members and then take him to lunch and let him go.
OR
I could make him meet my group, meet other faculty members, then let him give the seminar and then take him to lunch and let him go.
Scenario 1 allow me to take a closer look at his work; will have a lot to talk about after the seminar (we have an overlap). But in this case I have a feeling that the speaker might want to just leave (he wont coz of the visit schedule).
In scenario 2, I wont know his work deeper but he would want to stay till noon-ish to give his talk and then lunch.
Which strategy do you use? and why?
I would go with #1. You can glean more insights after the talk, than before, and your students will also have more interesting questions to ask. I don't see why the speaker would want to just leave after talk (even if they are a big shot). Part of the excitement around an invited lecture lies in the opportunity to meet other people in the field and expand one's network as well as collaborations.
ReplyDeleteThanks. This is what I did. Lets see how it goes.
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