To me, summit feels a bit too grand and “culminatory” (or whatever the word is), either because I think of summits bringing together disparate groups of people (e.g., from different universities/countries) or at the end of some project.
For multiple people who have been brainstorming to replace the word “retreat” for many months, the word “summit” actually grants a particularly desirable culminating spirit.
One common problem reported by organizers is that students are far from being ambitious enough in their summer, extracurricular, and post-graduation plans. The ubiquity of this observation leads myself and others to want to choose very deliberately exciting and forceful words. “Summit” has remained a good option in my mind and in the minds of a few other student organizers after almost a year of thinking about this issue because it makes the event seem more ambitious―more serious. In turn, this kind of environment makes students take themselves more seriously.
It is important to highlight that a student demographic audience is the dispositive quality in this situation that makes me insist on the above.
I like the term “Summit”
To me, summit feels a bit too grand and “culminatory” (or whatever the word is), either because I think of summits bringing together disparate groups of people (e.g., from different universities/countries) or at the end of some project.
For multiple people who have been brainstorming to replace the word “retreat” for many months, the word “summit” actually grants a particularly desirable culminating spirit.
One common problem reported by organizers is that students are far from being ambitious enough in their summer, extracurricular, and post-graduation plans. The ubiquity of this observation leads myself and others to want to choose very deliberately exciting and forceful words. “Summit” has remained a good option in my mind and in the minds of a few other student organizers after almost a year of thinking about this issue because it makes the event seem more ambitious―more serious. In turn, this kind of environment makes students take themselves more seriously.
It is important to highlight that a student demographic audience is the dispositive quality in this situation that makes me insist on the above.
“Mini-summit”? Less elegant, but maybe more fitting.