policy on posting talk announcements

[Dave_Touretzky@DST.BOLTZ.CS.CMU.EDU]

A number of people have inquired recently about the propriety of posting
local seminar announcements.  Since CONNECTIONISTS is a world-wide mailing
list, most readers will not be able to attend most talks.  However, many
folks find that a well-phrased talk abstract is a great way to learn about
state-of-the-art work that hasn't yet made it into print.  Reading talk
abstracts is also a good way to keep track of what prominent people are
working on these days.

On the other hand, there are a lot of mundane neural net talks given every
day.  Some of these are introductory lectures, and thus not appropriate for
readers of this list.  Others describe preliminary research without
significant results, or only incremental progress rather than really new
ideas.  Finally, some people may give decent talks but write boring
abstracts.

Here, then, is the policy on posting talk announcements to CONNECTIONISTS:

1. People are ENCOURAGED to post well-written abstracts describing
exciting, state-of-the-art research.  If possible, cite a paper or tech
report so interested readers can follow up, or at least give the speaker's
address so people can write for more information.

2. People are DISCOURAGED from posting abstracts that don't meet the above
criteria.

-- Dave Touretzky