SEA debriefing

This weekend I attended the Southern Economic Association meetings for the 20th consecutive year. Once again, I was amazed at how rewarding a small regional economics conference can be. The papers were of high quality, the AERE sessions were well attended and my friends showed up.

Here is what I did, with all of the gory details:

Saturday

1. 8 am, Stated Preference session: 4 papers, 15+ attendees. I asked a couple of questions to the panel (e.g., "When will "choice experiments" and "contingent valuation" merge into "stated preferences"? The answer is someday) and listened attentively.
2. 10 am, Fish and Forest session (minus the forest paper): I presented my paper, formally discussed another
3. 12 pm, lunch at the hotel with participants in 1 and 2
4. 1 pm, Coastal Management session: 2 papers, 15+ attendees
5. 3 pm, TV and nap
6. 6 pm University of Kentucky / Committee on the Status of Women in the Economics Profession (CSWEP) cocktail party (Shiner Bock)
7. 8:30 pm, dinner at Rosario's (seafood Chile Relleno)

Sunday

1. 8:30 am, exercise (had a good workout [which means that, at that time of day after the Saturday night events, I didn't throw up]).
2. 10 am, Agricultural and Land Use session: 4 papers, 15+ attendees. I served as chair so I stressed out over timing issues (17 minutes for presenters, 8 minutes for discussants, etc) and didn't really listen to papers, but I think they were good. I ran out of time and made it through without a cup of coffee. This may have contributed to why I didn't really listen to papers.
3. 12 pm, Presidential Luncheon (teaching award, best SEJ papers, presidential address): this was the first sit down luncheon at the SEAs, I think. It was extremely well attended (the lunch was a surprise to me, but maybe everyone else knew a "free lunch" was coming).
4. 2 pm, TV and nap
5. 4 pm, Natural Hazards session: 3 papers, 1 additional attendee (unfortunately, not atypical for a non-sponsored session), I formally "discussed" 2 of the papers.
6. 6 pm, Association Lecture: Sam "Peltzman effect" Peltzman talked about declined "mortality inequality." There were about 100 people at the tail end of the second conference day. A good turnout, actually.
7. 8 pm, dinner at Rosario's (chalupa)

Random notes:

1. Where were the folks from ECU? This was the first year I didn't see any of the current or past faculty who have moved on elsewhere. Attrition? Budget? Avoiding John Whitehead?
2. I highly recommend Rosario's.
3. I've had enough Shiner Bock for awhile.
4. I can't wait for the 2010 SEAs in Atlanta!
5. At a time cost of about $40 per hour, 8 AERE sessions with 15+ attendees generates a social value of over $5000 (estimate is based on revealed preference theory).