ISA 2017: Baltimore is My Home Away from Home Away from Home

Award-winning blogger Pete Trumbore got a
Duckie for his beautiful and sharp blog
(http://www.petertrumbore.com/)

Twas a pretty terrific ISA this year and not just because I received a Duckie! The Online Media Caucus had several events that were went off quite well.  There was a Live Tweet panel where folks chatted and tweeted and discussed twitter strategies.

 

Will Moore dressed for his Ignite conference

 My roommate, Bill Ayres, brought cookies as usual!

Sara Mitchell, whose laugh is perhaps the only one in the
business that is louder and more piercing than mine

I spent plenty of time hanging out with smart folks and, well, drinking beer.  During my first dinner, a trivia game broke out.  I was proud our team won for best name: "Bowling Green Survivors"











A big story of this ISA was reaction to and protest of the Muslim Ban and all that Trump is doing.

The G-Man in the middle is actually Cullen Hendrix,
a prof at U of Denver.  I think he would have looked better
in his drummer garb.  Oh well.

The ban had a direct impact on me and mine: Aisha Ahmad was to receive an award for the best paper on International Security in 2016, but she could not attend given how Canadian Muslims were being treated at the border.  It was my honor to accept on her behalf, but also my shame--that my country (well one of the two) was behaving so badly that she could not attend.  I was and am super proud of her--for her achievement and the classy statement she had me read.

First Spidey appearance

There was also some silliness as there is an amazing pop culture museum next to the Hilton.  Heaps of original comic books and heaps of all kinds of stuff.. 










And an old book cover that could be the new cover for any books on US intervention policy:












As always, I enjoyed seeing my friends, making new ones, eating great food, having some terrific beer, not losing at poker, getting feedback and learning about the latest research