MathFest

MathFest is an annual mathematics conference, usually held in the first (partial) week of August by the Mathematical Association of America. I just returned from this year's MathFest in Tampa.  For about a decade I attended both it and the Joint Mathematics Meetings in January (which I had begun attending once I was a full-time faculty member) until the MAA pulled out of the JMM over budgeting disputes which were legitimate but too thorny to go into here.

Having had the overlap I do have a sense of the difference between the two events, although MathFest has explicitly taken on some of the programming for the MAA (such as award ceremonies) from the JMM.  MathFest always seemed a bit more informal. During the overlap it seemed to always be held in smaller cities than the JMM (such has Madison, WI, Hartford, CT, and Portland, OR) but since the split we have been going to more major cities.

Much of the joy for me and from others I have talked with about MathFest is the networking, seeing old friends and acquaintances in the discipline in person. I often refer to the mathematicians who primarily teach as my tribe and this is them. The first year of meeting in person again after COVID had canceled some meetings was a joyous event for all present.

There are some small downsides still to pulling out of the JMM. The exhibits at MathFest are never what they were for the JMM. This may primarily be the dominance of digital texts and apps; there is less cause for publishers to send samples out for us to review.

I have been involved with the Committee on Minicourses for many years, and so much of my time at MathFest is taken by monitoring a minicourse. They are often interesting but without the element of choice there is less of a sense of ownership of the material for me and more the responsibility.