Saturday 20 October 2012

The joy of academic conference spam


Once you get your names on a few papers, the influx of  academic spam increases. I probably get at least two of these spams a day in my inbox (not counting the ones that are diverted by Google's spam filter). I suspect those academics higher up the chain get even more. The most common ones are requests for conference attendance, session chairing, and reviewing; closely followed by international students and graduates looking for jobs or Ph.D. placements. They are nearly always totally unrelated to what I work on (computational genomics).

I got a classic example today:

To: torsten.seemann@monash.spam.edu
Dear Torsten Seeman: 

Umm, you spelled my surname incorrectly. Sorry for misleading you with the correct spelling in my email address, websites, blog, and Twitter account.

The four sponsoring societies of DDW invite you to submit an abstract for presentation at DDW 2013 Scientific Sessions, to be held Saturday, May 18-Tuesday, May 21, 2013 in Orlando, FL. The DDW 2013 online abstract submission site is now open and will close on Saturday, December 1, 2012 at 9 p.m. ET. 



So it's in "Orlando, FL". Because I am Australian, I do have some idea of what else is in the world, and can deduce it is in the USA. But you are ignorant if you think the whole of the world knows all your two-letter USPS state codes! eg. CA = California or Canada? And unlike you, I know Canada is a country and not just a French speaking state of the USA.


<snip>DDW 2013 Abstract Submission Site: 
http://ddw2013.abstractcentral.com 
Poster sessions and DDW programming will start on Saturday, May 18, 2013. If your abstract is accepted, it may be scheduled for presentation on Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. 
Sincerely, 
DDW Administration 
DDWprogram@gastro.org



Hmm, you still haven't explained what the hell "DDW" is. Your email domain is giving me a hint, but that was the last line of the email. OK, I'll click on the link to find out - I can't help myself. "Digestive Disease Week" eh? Thanks for giving me the shits.

[Report Spam] clicked.



No comments:

Post a Comment