27 January 2026

Conferences that put people before PowerPoint with Russell Arnott and Sarah McLusky (Episode 85) – reinventing research conferences to prioritise connection and collaboration

Research Adjacent podcast artwork with the text 'Episode 85, Conferences that put people before PowerPoint with Russell Arnott and Sarah McLusky' and pictures of Sarah McLusky and Russell Arnott

For this episode of the Research Adjacent podcast Sarah is joined by Russell Arnott to discuss academic conferences and how to make them better.

Russell Arnott is an ocean science educator, facilitator and event organiser. Sarah McLusky is a research event consultant, trainer and facilitator. Sarah and Russell are collaborating on conference design and facilitation service Re:Conference.

Sarah and Russell talk about

Why traditional academic conferences are failing everyone – attendees, presenters, organisers and the wider world
Prioritising people, connection and collaboration over PowerPoint and information overload
The small changes that can make a big difference
How Russell, Sarah and Re:Conference can help reinvent conferences for good

Timestamps

[00:00:01] The Problem with Traditional Conferences Russell and Sarah discuss conventional academic conferences, highlighting issues with passive attendance and wasted networking opportunities.
[00:04:40] A Tale of Two Conferences Russell shares his contrasting experiences: the engaging EMSEA conference in Malta versus a disappointing traditional academic conference that left him feeling overwhelmed and excluded.
[00:11:21] The Missing Pedagogy How academic conferences ignore established teaching principles about attention spans and learning styles that are routinely applied in educational settings.
[00:14:44] Wasting Collective Expertise Russell emphasizes the fundamental flaw: bringing experts together but treating only the speaker as valuable while dismissing the audience’s knowledge and experience.
[00:15:37] How We Got Stuck Here Analysis of why conferences follow outdated formats, including inexperienced organisers (often PhD students) perpetuating the same template without questioning it.
[00:19:39] The Two-Week Disaster Russell recounts a catastrophic two-week international conference that failed due to lack of proper event design or staff expertise.
[00:24:26] Shifting to Active Participation The core principle of their approach: transforming attendees from passive recipients into active participants who contribute their skills, knowledge, and experience.
[00:29:23] Making Space for Open Space Russell explains the powerful ‘open space’ format where attendees propose discussion topics and self-organise into sessions based on genuine interest.
[00:32:55] Introducing Re:Conference Launch of the Re:Conference consulting service offering tiered support from simple agenda tweaks to full facilitation of reimagined conference formats.
[00:37:04] The Urgency of Better Collaboration Russell argues that poor conferences are a bottleneck to scientific progress on urgent issues like climate change.