*** UPDATE : Tue 5th Dec ***
So, I heard back from one of the alleged organisers. They had an email from the event that they had not responded for and had no involvement beyond that! It sounds like this event might be more fake than I realised!
*** ORIGINAL POST ***
This is an open letter to the organisers of ” 4th International Conference and Exhibition on Satellite & Space Missions“. I’ve googled the email addresses of some of this year’s organising committee and sent it to them directly too. I don’t object to getting the occasional mistargetted conference invite, but to claim I’ve been carefully selected pissed me off. Doing the same thing two years running ticked me off enough to write this blog post.
* * *
To the organisers of 4th International Conference and Exhibition on Satellite & Space Missions,
Hi, I’ve just had an email “reminding” me of my invite as a plenary speaker to the above conference.
I’ve just had a look at the conference website and the people I am emailing are the first few people listed as this year’s organisers.
I’m concerned that the email I have been sent is potentially damaging to the reputation of those involved in this conference.
- This is the first time I’ve been contacted about the 2018 event. I had a similar email for the 2017 event, also claiming to be a “followup” to an earlier email. Sending a first email claiming to be a followup isn’t “clever marketing”, it’s telling a lie to chivvy people into signing up for a scientific conference. It is just possible that two years running that the first email was not delivered, but it seems unlikely.
- I am not a Doctor. That title has to be earned and I work with PhD students who spend years earning that title. It’s not appropriate or respectful to just stick it on my name as a mailmege.
- I have absolutely no papers relevant to “Satellite and its allied areas”. Last year I contacted the conference to ask exactly what subject from my profile they were interested in and I was sent a default response. The statement that someone has “gone through your profile”. I was not told the reason for me being contacted.
- All this makes the phrase “This is not a spam message, and has been sent to you because of your eminence in the field” inaccurate, and that’s being very generous.
The email has been published at
http://blog.soton.ac.uk/webteam/2017/12/04/satellite_2018/
The email I was sent:
| Dear Dr.Christopher Gutteridge , We contacted you by email earlier, since we have not yet received any response from you regarding submission of abstract and your participation as a plenary speaker, we are taking the liberty of re-sending this mail as we are aware that you may be engaged in other activities or my E-mail may not have successfully reached you.
Meet 300+ featured Speakers at Satellite Conferences Thanks & Regards, |
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| 4th International Conference and Exhibition on Satellite & Space Missions June 18-20, 2018 | Rome, Italy Theme: “Shaping the Future with Latest Advancements in Satellite and Space Missions” Meet world leading Space Researchers, Scientists, Delegates and Students from 50 different Countries & 5 Continents |
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| A very good day to you. | |
| The purpose of this letter is to invite you as a Speaker at upcoming “4th International Conference and Exhibition on Satellite & Space Missions” during June 18-20, 2018 at Rome, Italy. Satellite 2018 focuses on the theme “Shaping the Future with Latest Advancements in Satellite and Space Missions†which aims in gathering the eminent research communities catalyzing information exchange and networking between researchers and business entrepreneurs of diverse backgrounds fostering advancements in Satellite and Space research.We have gone through your profile and as per your eminence in the arena of Satellite and its allied areas; we would like to have your presence as a Speaker for Satellite-2018 which will definitely add a good impact to our conference. We believe all the scientists and young researchers, who are gathering, will be learnt from your research talk at the conference.
Conference website: Satellite Conferences Please let us know your interest to be a Speaker at this international event and hence will be glad to provide you with more details for the participation confirmation. For any information required, do not hesitate to ask for assistance. We appreciate your time and consideration, and looking forward to hear positive response from you. Thanks & Regards, Disclaimer: This is not a spam message, and has been sent to you because of your eminence in the field. If, however, you do not want to receive any email in future from Satellite 2018 then reply us with the subject “remove /opt-out”. We concern for your confidentiality. |
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Thank you for clarifying this. I have received a similar (or maybe the same) email from them, and I was really considering to reach them out. But, after reading your blog, I changed my mind.