Thread by @cheng_christine

1- Some advice for attending big discipline-wide academic conferences. I’m writing this for those who are attending #ISA2019 for the first time, but these are tips that apply to all subjects.

I’ve been going to these things for 15 years now and I’ve learned a few things.

2- Value people for their ideas and their character. NOT their seniority or their ability to get you a job.

I.e., don’t instrumentalize your interactions. I can’t emphasize this enough.

🛑 Stop looking for someone more important to talk to and focus on who’s in front of you.

3- Don’t treat this as a networking exercise.

“Networking” is the wrong mindset. It emphasizes quantity over quality. This makes more sense in a normal job market since it’s friends-of-friends who can inform you of new opportunities. But it doesn’t translate well to academia.

4-Deeper interactions will have a more lasting, long-term impact on your career.

If you hit it off with someone intellectually OR socially, then spend more time with them. With zero FOMO. Forget how senior or junior they are. The lowly PhD student of today is tomorrow’s star.💫

5-So many stars in my field are friends from way way back when we were all PhD students. I’m proud to say that I loved their work back when no one had heard of them. It’s like watching an indie band you discovered go mainstream.

Point is- Have faith in your academic tastes.

6- BE KIND. BE KIND. BE KIND.
Putting your work out there to be criticized is an act of bravery. You’re sharing a piece of yourself.

So in the Q&A, don’t humiliate the speaker in order to make yourself look clever. You’ll come across as a jerk who is trying too hard.

7- Learn how to deliver CONSTRUCTIVE criticism.

The goal is to help the author improve their paper. So don’t just say X doesn’t work.
Instead say, X doesn’t work because of A, B, C. You can try Y instead. Or reframe question as Z.

And be gentle with your tone.

8- #ISA219 Women: Ask Qs in the Q&A.
Consider setting this as an intention at the start of the session.

Early career women: This is an excellent opportunity to engage meaningfully. And to form a new connection. If you really like the work, go further&offer to review the paper!

9- #ISA2019 Women: Asking a question can also lead to productive (& fun) interactions because *audience members*- not just panelists- might want to engage further after the panel. I’ve met so many people like this.

When asking Qs, please introduce yourself!

10- Attend panels outside your specialized subfield.

It’s easy to limit yourself to those sessions that relate directly to your work. But big conferences are an efficient way to learn about other disciplines & subfields. Great for creative thinking.

11- When chairing, be practical about timing.

In your instructions to panelists, allow 5min for a late start OR be ruthless and start on time.
Build in time for introductions + 1min transitions between speakers!

When taking questions from audience, gather up 5-10 NOT 2-3.

12- As discussant, focus on 3-5 big ideas to help the author improve the paper. Don’t overwhelm with critiques.
And above all, don’t tell them to write the paper that *you* would have written.

Remember: Part of the discussant’s job is to stimulate conversation for the Q&A.

13- When presenting & sharing your paper, ask for advice on specific ideas or concepts or framings.

Ask the discussant/audience: Does this section work for you? Did I make too many assumptions? What can I cut?

The best panels happen when we all treat it as a joint endeavour.

14- Think of Twitter as a form of academic citation.

They serve similar functions: to draw attention to specific scholars & their ideas. So instead of saying “Great paper by @X!”, summarize the idea or highlight what was innovative💡.

15- Call out exemplary kindnesses. Publicly or privately.

“Tx for introducing me to X important person”
“Tx for standing up for me when so & so got nasty in that session”
“Even though we just met, tx for telling me my work is good. Hearing you say it makes me believe in myself.”

16- Don’t ever forget that this is a professional conference. Especially when you’re having a great time.

I.e., Don’t drink (or smoke in this case) so much that you forget where you are. You don’t want to be remembered for “that episode” in the hotel lobby.

Obvious, and yet...

17- Academia is a marathon not a sprint. For PhD students, that means that you’re forming relationships that will last decades.

Scholars have memories like 🐘. They’ll remember who snubbed them when they weren’t “important”. So BE NICE!

/end