{"id":39002,"date":"2017-05-23T14:44:10","date_gmt":"2017-05-23T21:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=39002"},"modified":"2017-05-23T14:44:10","modified_gmt":"2017-05-23T21:44:10","slug":"making-conference-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/making-conference-money\/","title":{"rendered":"Making the most of your conference money"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

For an academic, participating in conferences is important for lots of reasons: sharing research and having it critiqued, building networks, identifying collaboration opportunities, and staying up to date with advances in the field.<\/p>\n

For PhD students there are additional advantages: you can use conferences to make your name known outside your immediate geographical area, potentially improving future employment opportunities.<\/p>\n

For me, they have been invaluable in feeling included in my scientific discipline; for being part of a bigger student group outside my university; and for receiving a motivational boost when the PhD journey is feeling long and difficult.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a cost: conferences are expensive, particularly when you are travelling from Australia to, well, anywhere. There is time off research, travel time, and sacrificed casual income. Finally, it takes considerable time to apply for travel funding and prepare a talk.<\/p>\n

Therefore, once you\u2019ve made the commitment, you want to get fantastic things out of it \u2013 but to reap the benefits, it takes a bit of strategy and effort. So, here are my tips for making the most of your conference.<\/p>\n

Befriend the PhD students.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Getting to know the students from other institutions is really important: you\u2019ll have new connections at different universities, people to discuss PhD difficulties with, you can find out about upcoming events, and you\u2019ll have more fun. Some conferences I\u2019ve attended have offered a discount at a local hostel and encouraged students to stay there: this is a good thing to do as in the evenings there will be social things happening that you definitely want to be part of.<\/p>\n

Wear your nametag.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This might sound obvious, but there are always people who don\u2019t. If you don\u2019t wear your nametag, other attendees won\u2019t know who you are, and might assume you are not part of the conference or are someone too important for a nametag \u2013 either way they won\u2019t say hello.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t just hang out with people from your institution.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Do talk to lots of people\u2026but not people you already know well. The whole point of going to a conference is to meet new people, and it\u2019s hard to do this if you stick with people from your own university.<\/p>\n

Actively seek out people you want to meet.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve read some blogs suggesting that you get in touch with people you want to meet before the conference, to organise a meeting time. I don\u2019t normally do this, as most people won\u2019t be that organised, but certainly advise being proactive during the conference week.<\/p>\n

At a recent conference, the first plenary gave an excellent talk, relevant to my work \u2013 but there were over 800 people at the conference spread across several big rooms, so I wasn\u2019t sure I\u2019d casually meet her by chance over the week. I sent an email introducing myself, suggesting a chat over one of the breaks, and we convened later in the week.<\/p>\n

Make the effort in the breaks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The whole point of going to conference is not about listening to presentations, but to actually talk to people. Academics are not typically known for their outstanding social skills, and a lot of people (even well known professors) can feel quite anxious about it. Use the coffee breaks to try and meet some new people \u2013 see the next few points.<\/p>\n

If someone gives a great talk \u2013 let them know.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, if you just say to someone \u2018I really enjoyed your talk\u2019, they will say \u2018oh, thank you\u2019, and the conversation can stall. Instead, link your compliment to your own research. For example, \u2018I really enjoyed how you talked about methods for model fitting, it\u2019s actually similar to an issue I\u2019m working on with some data for influenza\u2026\u2019, it then gives the academic a chance to say \u2018thank you\u2019 before leading into a conversation about mutual resesarch interests.<\/p>\n

Ask questions at talks.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Simple questions are fine \u2013 usually the speaker is relieved if they don\u2019t get stumped on anything tricky! Sometimes, I think a talk is fantastic and want to ask a question, to show how interested I was \u2013 but then can\u2019t think of one.<\/p>\n

A good strategy is to ask the speaker to re-explain one of the charts or graphs on one of their slides (this only works for quantitative disciplines). E.g. \u2018Thank you, I really enjoyed your talk. Would you mind just going back to slide 10, I was a bit confused about what that chart is showing\u2026perhaps you could explain that part again?\u2019.<\/p>\n

Embrace social media.<\/strong><\/p>\n

I mainly suggest you do this because it\u2019s really fun, but it\u2019s useful too. It can make you feel more part of the \u2018conference community\u2019. You\u2019ll get to know more people. If there are parallel sessions, it means you can get an idea of talks you might have missed.<\/p>\n

Go to the conference dinner.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Always go to the dinner. It\u2019s one of my favourite parts of a conference, as everyone is relaxed, and you can get to know your colleagues in an informal setting. Sometimes there is dancing! My advice is not to talk about work and not to sit with people from your own university (point 4). If you have a drink or two, keep it sensible.<\/p>\n

Pace yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Conferences can be really exhausting. At the beginning of my PhD, I thought I had to go to every session, and would be completely burnt out by the end of the week. It\u2019s good to go through the program to identify the \u2018must-attend\u2019 sessions, sessions your interested in, and some spots in the program where you can have a break or catch up with a colleague.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Dr Alexandra Hogan, is a mathematical infectious disease modeller. She submitted her PhD thesis\u00a0at the Research School of Population Health at ANU in November 2016.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For an academic, participating in conferences is important for lots of reasons: sharing research and having it critiqued, building networks, identifying collaboration opportunities, and staying up to date with advances in the field. 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