The Gordon Research Conferences are a great program, if you’re in a field that offers them. These are mostly in New England in the summer, and involve a lot more down time than most professional conferences, to allow for more informal interaction between attendees. At past Gordon conferences, I’ve played soccer with a Nobel laureate, and basketball with a number of Ivy League faculty.
I got an email announcement of the 2009 Atomic Physics Gordon Conference, to be held at the Tilton School in Tilton, NH June 28-July 3. This year’s meeting is chaired by Tiku Majumder at Williams, and he’s put together a program that looks really cool, and includes a wide range of stuff.
I don’t think I can really justify the expense this year, what with SteelyKid and the other travel that we’ve got planned, and potentially book-related travel in the future. If you’re interested in the field, though, I highly recommend it.