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Maybe this is a Stackoverflow question, but I am not sure. I am looking for a word(or perhaps a phrase) to describe a person who registers for a lot of conferences but never bothers to attend them.

There are so many conferences in and around London, and I know a bunch of people who almost always register for all of these conferences but don't bother to attend these. How do I describe them or their behaviour?

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A 'non-shower'? – Barrie England Jun 20 '12 at 9:06
I've heard people say the phrase: "we have a couple of no-shows today at the conference". Not sure if it is gramatically correct though. – Anup Jun 21 '12 at 10:13

1 Answer

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I’m not aware of any "official" term for this, but you could use phantom registrants.

Phantom can be used as an adjective to mean illusive, fictitious, nonexistent, existing in perception only.

Sometimes, phantom has a negative connotation, implying some measure of deliberate trickery (phantom voters, phantom employees). In this case, I doubt phantom registrants are trying to bolster numbers or deceive conference organizers, but it wouldn't surprise me to learn of some deleterious effects nonetheless (such as ordering more conference materials than are needed, etc.)

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"phantom registrants" conjures up an image of dead registrants whose souls are attending a long forgotten conference. :) It has an ethereal quality to it, I'd say. – Anup Jun 21 '12 at 10:10
@Anup: Yup; if we shorten phantom registrants to just plain phantoms, then we definitely run the risk of conjuring some eerie images at the conference (which is why I recommend using it as an adjective). I wondered if that definition of the word might come back to haunt me ;^) – J.R. Jun 21 '12 at 10:28
oooOOOOoooh! +1. :) – cornbread ninja 麵包忍者 Jul 6 '12 at 12:11

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