After we arrived in Newcastle, got our room in the B&B, and drove aimlessly through Newcastle because the city map we had didn't tell us much at all, we finally found the university and then a while later finally found the Newcastle Business School, the location of Bogdan's conference. They weren't checking tickets at the conference reception, so I got to mingle alongside Bogdan (and after paying a $500 registration fee, we think a spouse sipping a glass of wine, was, well, not a big deal). That night in the hotel, we practiced Bogdan's presentation for the next day, taking notes and timing it. We arrived at the Newcastle Business School the next morning way before the first sessions so we had another opportunity to practice the speech. The rest of the day, Bogdan would spend his time running in and out of sessions and keynote addresses, while I passed the time reading, wandering, writing, and playing in the school's computer lab.
Bogdan's session was the last time slot of the day, and his presentation was the last out of the three presenters during his session. I got to sit in with him (and snap some photos of his first conference proceeding). He did a great job, answered questions well and succinctly, and people seem interested in his research (that's my unbiased opinion). We were both able to attend the dinner that night, meet interesting people from all over Europe (and Texas) and Bogdan was offered some opportunities that could really round out his vitae for positions in academia.
Overall , even though technically the conference was the reason for the trip, the day spent in Newcastle was more about mingling and networking with Bogdan's colleagues than sightseeing and, being that it was smack dab in the middle of the trip, it ended up being a good break from sightseeing.
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