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\nConferences are a major part of an academic life, of researcher lives, for networking and many other reasons.<\/p>\n
\nConferences are a major part of an academic life, of researcher lives, for networking and many other reasons.<\/p>\n
Often, conferences are where we connect with others in our discipline or methodological community, where we meet people, make contacts, expand our thinking, or where we share our research and our developing ideas.<\/p>\n
But with the advent of COVID-19, the conference cancellations have come in thick and fast. What does this mean for conversation, connection, collaboration and community building?<\/p>\n
In February 2019 (well before COVID-19!), we co-chaired a fully virtual conference\u00a0MAKING shiFt HAPPEN<\/a>. In reality, it was probably more of an\u00a0un<\/em><\/strong>conference. We were trialling an alternative. Creative ways to connect. A virtual exchange of stories and experiences about life in academia. We framed it as a multi-disciplinary conference for women academics, adopting an inclusive definition of \u2018woman\/women\u2019 and \u2018female\u2019, and welcomed trans-women, genderqueer women, and non-binary people.<\/p>\n MAKING shiFt HAPPEN sought to create an alternative, more inclusive space for women regardless of where they lived or where they were in their career. We were looking for ways to engage in and promote slow scholarship, and the playing of the\u00a0infinite game<\/a>\u00a0rather than propagating the finite games promoted by the neoliberal university.<\/p>\n These philosophies gave our conference heart \u2013 the \u2018why\u2019 \u2013 and framed our conferencing pedagogy. Holding space for safe and supportive conversations was key for us. We focused on four underpinning themes to support our collective conversations:\u00a0contemplation<\/a>\u00a0about academia, led by First Nations Women; consideration about how\u00a0caring academic communities<\/a>\u00a0are created and supported; the importance of sharing our\u00a0lived experiences<\/a>\u00a0with each other; and\u00a0reimagining academia<\/a>\u00a0into something kinder, more generous, and wise.<\/p>\n In some ways COVID-19 is inviting this reimagining too.<\/p>\n Our desire to\u00a0think outside the traditional conference box<\/a>\u00a0was also linked to our experience as mums, our carer responsibilities for our parents, our limited access to travel support funds, and our \u201cinterrupted careers\u201d in terms of Research Opportunity and Performance Evidence (ROPE). We had each felt the exclusionary challenges of traditional conferences, particularly when they were expensive and situated in another state or country. We were also wanting to support the planet through reduced airline travel.<\/p>\n MAKING shiFt HAPPEN was definitely unusual. It was not a typical conference. It was not focused on a dense, multi-strand program of research presentations; however,\u00a016 wonderful Australian and international presenters<\/a>\u00a0supported the program, our contemplation and our conversations. The conference sought to break down some of the barriers we had experienced. It had a small registration cost, but bursaries were abundant and many of our key speakers waived their honorariums to support the attendance of research students or early career academics.<\/p>\n Across the 90 registrations, 19 Australian universities (inclusive of every state and territory) were represented. Staff from 13 international universities across New Zealand, UK, Sweden, US, Canada and South Africa attended. A range of fields were represented including education, health, sociology, psychology, anthropology, social work and indigenous studies. Women\u2019s academic roles varied and included casual\/sessional staff, research higher degree researchers, ECRs, Associate Lecturers through to Professors, Associate Deans and Directors, librarians, and academic developers.<\/p>\n Our conference considered multiple timezones.<\/strong>\u00a0Not everyone attended for the whole 36 hours (obviously), and it was never our intention that everyone would, could or should. The attendance was staggered and scattered. A continuous program meant different time zones could be accommodated. It also meant that, as the conference co-chairs and moderators of many sessions, we didn\u2019t get a lot of sleep! However, the opportunity to gather synchronously in our various time zones provided a space for building connections.<\/p>\n Our conference was fully virtual.<\/strong>\u00a0We used Zoom. We had looked at some other products but chose Zoom because the university used this platform and we had inhouse technical support (which was invaluable). The experience wasn\u2019t perfect, but it did work. We recognise that becoming Zoomed-out is a risk in the age of COVID-19. For our conference we sought to vary the ways of using Zoom. We invited a keynote speaker and a panel of speakers (two \u2013 three speakers) to talk to one of the core four themes. These two sessions were scheduled back to back and a moderator supported interactivity via the chat. These sessions were also recorded so that attendees could come back and engage with ideas asynchronously and in their own time.<\/p>\n We planned curated and informal Zoom meeting rooms to facilitate dialogue of various kinds.<\/strong>\u00a0Each of the zoom meeting rooms had a moderator present to welcome and facilitate. People could effectively \u2018create their own adventure\u2019<\/a>\u00a0engaging in \u2018curated conversations\u2019, talk around a \u2018campfire\u2019 or share their research ideas or projects via a \u2018pop-up podium\u2019. In terms of the Zoom rooms,\u00a0Curated Conversations<\/em>\u00a0offered meaning-making spaces with a little bit of structure (guiding prompts, questions, anecdotes and provocations) and focused on stories and storytelling.\u00a0The Pop-Up Podium<\/em>\u00a0was a supportive place where people could share ideas and projects. The\u00a0Campfire<\/em>\u00a0was a place where participants could start or end their day and engage in informal connections, like the kind you would have sitting around a backyard fire pit, or over a cuppa at a face-to-face conference.<\/p>\n We curated supporting online resources including\u00a0a book pantry<\/a>, an\u00a0inspiration gallery<\/a>\u00a0and suggestions for\u00a0community connections<\/a>. These web resources and keynote\/panel recordings continue to sustain conference attendees more than a year after the conference ended.<\/p>\n Our team was pretty small, and we would recommend getting a bigger team if you are thinking about bringing something like this to life. If you would like to contact us, we are happy to share more of what we learned.<\/p>\n We are excited that conversations continue. We have secured a book contract where 30 or so attendees have teamed up with a colleague who\u00a0didn\u2019t<\/em>\u00a0attend MAKING shiFt HAPPEN. Together, we are continuing our contemplative conversations in long, slow, written ways via our edited book,\u00a0Towards a Kinder Academy \u2013 Collaborating, Listening and Understanding for Change,\u00a0<\/em>which is due for publication with Palgrave next year.<\/p>\n For many, the value of our conference has been long lasting. Many of our conference participants say the conference has subsequently offered support for their work in academe. A number of participants said that prior to the conference they were questioning their future in academia. The conference enabled community connections and offered alternatives. One colleague has initiated a \u2018Making shiFt happen\u2019 group in her faculty to support care, collaboration and creative resistance. A collective joined together to share their experience in a review for\u00a0Art\/Research International<\/a>.<\/p>\n These kinds of comments affirm that it is time to reimagine what conferences might be \u2013 what academia might be \u2013 so let\u2019s take up this invitation to think creatively about why and how we gather together.<\/p>\n