Ahh. The olden days.

Came across this from September 2019. Made me smile. Here’s the background. As part of his day job, Mr. Big Food and I had been going to the Alabama Philosophical Society annual meetings, held at Pensacola Beach, for a few years. In 2018 he arranged to have a one day session on philosophy & neuroscience. There were 14 talks from people mostly located in the Deep South.

It went over so well that the next year he announced the meeting across the land, and expanded it to two days. There were 22 people, and things were shaping up. So he named the group the Deep South Philosophy & Neuroscience Workgroup, and called the now annual meeting Philosophy & Neuroscience @the Gulf. This second meeting is where this post from September 2019 comes in.

Keep reading below the short old post for an update. Never let it be said that Mr. Big Food and I don’t go big. (haha)

Mr. Big Food has arranged a very cool two-day workshop at a beach location. Unfortunately, the beach hotel charges an exorbitant amount of money for boxed lunches. So he did some thinking– which he’s really good at– came up with a plan, consulted with me and the other work shoppers, and we’re going to set up a food truck for lunch one of the days. I will run to the local grocery store, pick up stuff, and set it up at the back of our truck in the parking lot.

I started thinking this through just this morning and I think I have it nailed including accommodating the VEGs, VEGANs, and GFers. I should be able to bring it all in for about $200. And only needed one piece of paper.

Not bad if I do say so myself.

The Food Truck, complete with sign. It was hot that day. As I recall the cheese melted.

Philosophy & Neuroscience @the Gulf III was in 2020, so virtual, but that’s the year Mr. Big Food started inviting neuroscientists to give keynote lectures. We went back to the Gulf in 2021, again with contributed papers, and invited keynotes from philosophers and neuroscientists. I think we were one of the first groups to go back to the hotel, and I know we were one of the very first philosophy meetings to go live with no virtual opt-in.

There were 29 people on the program in 2021–and we’d stopped doing the food truck. Last year there were 42. This year’s meeting has 60+.

Some things don’t change. I’m still in charge of food, though not lunch. (There’s a two hour lunch break so folk can go enjoy local restaurants.) I plan the menu for the opening early morning spread, the mid-morning break, and the afternoon break–all supplied by the hotel.

As you can see, I can no longer do it with just one piece of paper and a $200 budget.