Over the past few weeks my inbox has been inundated with people saying things like “You haven’t posted much lately but I hope that you’ll still do the ASA Scavenger Hunt!” and “MAGIKARP DEMANDS TO KNOW WHEN THE SCAVENGER HUNT WILL BE POSTED!!!” and “Find the best Medicare supplement plan.”* Fear not, readers, on the eve of the American Sociological Association’s annual meeting, the hunt is ready to be scavenged. Use a Sharpie to cross off completed items on your computer or mobile phone or, if you prefer, download a PDF version here.
2016 ASA Scavenger Hunt
- Attend a friend’s presentation even though it is outside of your area
- See somebody playing Pokémon Go during a session
- Make a joke about economists
- Attend the Sociologists for Justice session on Saturday night
- Attend a talk in which the presenter is reading from his or her paper with no apparent preparation
- Check out the poster presentations
- Time how long it takes the ASA app to load when you haven’t used it recently
- Attend a session with fewer than five audience members
- Go to a business meeting and sign up for a committee
- Overhear a sociologist make a racist/sexist/homophobic (etc.) comment
- Talk to somebody about SJMR
- Ask a good question in a session
- Look at somebody’s nametag in an obvious way
- Find the unisex restrooms and rate their implementation on a scale of 1-10
- Attend DAN and/or a department reception
- Get a free drink at a section reception
- Go to the blogging party, say you’re John Smith
- Talk to somebody from a liberal arts school about his or her research
- Talk to somebody from a research school about his or her teaching
- Talk to somebody on the job market about his or her ideal job
- Introduce two people you know to each other
- For Faculty: Buy a student coffee or a meal; For Students: Accept coffee or a meal from a faculty member
- Eat a meal alone, confidently
- Talk to somebody whose name you can’t remember
- Post on social media about ASA
- Catch up with a colleague from another institution
- Visit the Space Needle
- Spend an entire day in Seattle without attending a session
- Get a coffee at Starbucks, ironically
- Complain about the heat
*Only one of these is an actual e-mail I received.
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