http://www.insidehighered.com/sites/default/server_files/styles/large/public/confessions_of_a_community_college_dean_blog_header.jpgBy Matt Reed. In grad school and the first few years after, I was a pretty severe skeptic about academic conferences. The major one in my academic field, the APSA, struck me as an inconveniently scheduled, anxiety-generating festival of nametag-gazing. More...