Many academic conferences have already replaced or are to replace with virtual conferences over the Internet, due to the China coronavirus' outbreak around the world.


Some conferences, that had been closed for paper submission are reopened for submission with a new registration fee that is reduced than previously planned. Others even keep the on-going on-site schedule to attend in person with a planned registration fee including a banquet ticket. Organizers of the latter conferences are not friendly to attendants in my opinion. The coronavirus shock works as a mile stone to identify sincerity of people who manage various entities and organizations, especially in academia.


These five to eight years, organizers of academic conferences have put too much weight on the commercial purpose at the expense of attendants. Conference schedules are on a year-long rally to collect a high volume of papers for proceedings in order to avoid deficit of budget. The number of special sessions rises and lowers the quota of the volume for papers presented in regular sessions. In every special session, a specific group of session organizers dominate the review process, and even make a great impact on the direction of the entire conference.


Is that good to academia? I hope that this pandemic crisis may work as a test to find good conferences for attendants or not. That could be a consolation for sacrifices that this disaster forces in academia.