Thursday, September 30, 2010

Re-post: For Friends, Acquaintances, and Friendly Theo-Bloggers Coming to Atlanta for AAR or SBL: Welcome! How Can I Help?

I posted this back in mid-May, but as it is exactly one month away from AAR -- and the last day of reduced rates for both AAR and SBL -- I thought I'd re-post it for anyone like me a year ago who didn't know how to handle or afford Montreal. I'm already happily planning to host an old friend at our apartment, as well as busy finding a place to stay for a couple others who have contacted me and answering questions about MARTA, Atlanta, etc. Please feel free to let me know if you happen to have any questions or need any help; regardless, I'm just looking forward to the meetings.

Below is the original post.

- - - - - - -

This fall I have the wonderful opportunity to attend my first gatherings of both the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature, as the annual meetings of each will be here in Atlanta. AAR will be the weekend of Halloween (Saturday, October 30, through Monday, November 1) and SBL the weekend before Thanksgiving (Saturday, November 20, through Tuesday, November 23).

A close second to attending and hearing so many excellent scholars for the first time will be meeting the various acquaintances, friends, and bloggers I have encountered, read, and dialogued with over the last couple of years. In looking forward to the meetings, I also realized that, living in Atlanta, I should do my best to welcome people to the city. Atlanta may not be as intimidating as Montreal (or is it?), but I certainly know that on top of the financial commitment, flying into an urban metropolis is not so easily navigable.

So, just to get the word out early: if you are planning to come to Atlanta for either or both meetings, by all means let's grab a drink or a bite to eat, and get others in on it, too. Beyond that, feel free to let me know if you don't have a place to stay, have questions about the city, or anything else. We don't have much room to offer guests in our one-room apartment, but we do have many friends who'd love to host burgeoning theologian scholars.

Looking forward to meeting whoever ends up coming!

No comments:

Post a Comment