Conference encounters
Some thoughts about social interactions following various encounters on Friday.
People with whom I get on like a house on fire when we meet at conferences, book launches, etc, but seldom if ever see otherwise. In some cases - CD A, Labour History Woman - this may be partly at least due to the fact that though they live in London, they work at institutions elsewhere, and either have horrendous commutes, or spend large parts of the week elsewhere. But I've also noted (and this may be Just Me) the phenomenon of the Delimited Friendship, where you get on really, really well with someone you regularly or fairly frequently or even only occasionally encounter in some particular place or context, and even have quite intense conversations, but it always Stays In Vegas, it never moves outside that particular space where it happens. (This may have a lot to do with time pressures, shape of working day, etc.)
Person who came up to me with expressions of delight that I was there, and expressing determination to have a conversation at some point about some matter which they assumed I was completely aware of about which we had, apparently communicated at some previous date. (I later discovered, later as in checking my records today, that we had had an email exchange about it way back in the summer.) We did have the conversation, in which I managed not to reveal my state of blankness about what it was we were supposed to be doing together. Not sure if this was a matter of amour propre, or politely not going 'Huh? Oh, I'd forgotten all about it/you.' I do think people don't realise the extent to which I have people contacting me at work over a variety of diverse matters, not to mention those who want me to referee their grant proposals/read their theses/review books/write articles/etc. It's not really entirely unreasonable for me to have at least a moment's confuzzlement at the assumption that I remember the whole matter, so significant to them, vividly and in detail.
Person whom I can't remember ever seeing before who clearly thought we had met and interacted on some other occasion. Could be me, could be them.