More of our group, different night. I think there are some real advantages to maintaining a group like this during a conference. I felt much less burnt out by the conference itself, I think because our ongoing discussion of the conference helped me digest it. Also, since we didn’t all attend the same panels, I could hear about other panels from my friends, and since we had this ongoing conversation and got to know each other’s general views, we could more accurately judge how someone’s review of a panel would map to our own reaction. At least that’s what I think.
Also, we came up with fun nicknames for certain people, and rules for others.