Not much time to write right now, but see this article, “Eggheads Naughty Word Games.” Essentially, it’s the annual “wow, English professors sure are silly” article that appears in the Times and other places.
It’s not that I don’t disagree with the article, because I don’t. I might go to a few panels, but to tell the truth, I kind of feel like what happens at most of the sessions is pretty far removed from what I do as a teacher, scholar, and writer. Comp/rhet folks tend to be in English departments, but this is definiately a “Literature” conference; the “Composition” conference is in March, and this year, it’s in San Francisco.