How will the global business of academic conferences be affected by the recession? It's a multimillion dollar question, worthy of a big conference in itself, hosted in some scenic city with good air connections.
On second thoughts, perhaps not, in the approaching era of what the vice-chancellor of Manchester University predicts will be "extraordinary stringency, tougher than anything universities have faced for the last quarter century".
Could Second Life be the answer, providing the sort of interaction essential to scholarship and research?
This virtual world is already home to about 5,000 educators, according to Linden Labs, which runs it. Here avatars of lecturers teach, and student avatars practise their skills, for course credits. The day of the virtual degree is not far off.
Is virtual education of the kind on offer in Second Life an interesting fad or the forerunner of something that will become as ubiquitous and useful as email? After attending my first education conference in Second Life, I'm still unsure.
On the one hand, I found it a bit distracting and awkward – but then I'm very old and didn't have much practice beforehand. If you're used to computer games, it's probably a doddle.
On the other hand, it was a serious event with serious contributions from north American universities about how they were using Second Life to recruit and teach students.
The speakers seemed to have got past the "wow, isn't this weird and amazing" stage and were beginning to think about how to use the virtual world as a worthwhile educational tool.
The fact that the audience of about 50, drawn from across Europe and north America, had gathered in the same room without generating a single carbon footprint from travel was an achievement in itself.
Will it catch on? I'm sceptical, but then I didn't see the point of email at first.
