The value and the cost of in person networking

Being something of a cynic, I have often said that international arbitration is ‘over-conferenced’, but, in truth, I like going to conferences. I like meeting new people, I like reconnecting with old friends and colleagues, I have forced myself to learn to mingle and to enjoy it.

After becoming a full time arbitrator I realised that there was signficant professional value in attending conferences. I can almost track the progress of my career to a conference that I attended, first ICC appointment after meeting someone at conference A, an ICSID enquiry after conference B, a chair appointment after conference C. Of course an arbitrator is not getting appointments based on connections made during coffee breaks or on performances on panels but participating in conference effectively harnesses the power of the recency effect. Quite simply, they keep an arbitrator in a potential appointer’s mind and as a result, are extremely valuable.

So much for the professional value of in person conferences. What of the environmental cost? A recent article in the Financial Times Carbon Counter: Virtual Conferences offer real emissions savings analysed the difference in carbon emissions between an in person conference and a virtual one. The infographic reproduced from the article below is pretty staggering. (By the way I highly recommend the book - How Bad Are Bananas? By Mike Berners Lee which was the source for the calculations)

The value of an in person networking opportunity to me as an arbitrator is real, but also intangible and unquantifiable. It appears, however, that the cost to the environment is real, tangible and quantifiable. As we move, cautiously, back to in person events it is going to be up to everyone to weigh the value and the cost of attending in person.

Conference organisers can seek to minimise the conference’s impact on the environment by following the Campaign for Greener Arbitration’s Green Protocol on Arbitration Conferences but there is no escaping the conclusion that the greenest conference is the one where participants don’t leave their homes. A sobering thought for those of us who are desperate to embrace ‘normality’: in this climate emergency it may well be that we simply can’t afford the price.