First Time Conference Goers Tips
Next week I’m heading to the Asia Pacific Coral Reef Symposium in Cebu! Other fish nerds! Fun! Science! Exchange of Ideas! Conference dinners!
I believe this is the first time some of my friends will be attending a conference. Hence let me share some tips I found useful over the years, to get the most out of a conference visit:
– Plan
Often conferences run in several tracks, hence lectures on different topics are given concurrently. Naturally, some talks will be more interesting to you, and closer to your own research. Find out when they are happening, and specifically plan to visit those presentations. These days many conferences have their own apps for that purpose, which are quite useful.
– Look sideways
Related to the previous tip: I always like to explore fields other than my own. Currently my main scientific interest is the biology of fishes, especially gobies. I’ll surely will try to learn as much as I can about fish biology, but also attend some presentations about corals, sponges, ocean conservation, and other topics. Basically, I can get a lot of information about my own field from the literature; I can always search for relevant new articles, and I know what to search for. But the talks about topics I know less about will surprise me more. I think width of scientific knowledge (as opposed to only specialized knowledge) is of great value, and conferences are great opportunities to acquire this width.
– Talk
The official program of a conference surely should be interesting to you (otherwise: change the field!), but the informal chats in-between sessions or over lunch are just as valuable. Most people will be quite happy to share more insights & ideas than they had time to present during their (often too short) talk.
– Don’t overdo it
Many conferences run from morning till late, with talks and poster sessions running all day. Followed then by conference dinners. That can be a bit much for anyone, even for scientists with great enthusiasm & energy. Take a long nap if you have to, or sleep in once in a while! It’s better to skip some of the presentations than to visit all, and walk around like a zombie, drained and unable to take up new knowledge.
– Follow up
I often found that I’d learn interesting things at a conference, but that the knowledge evaporated a bit too quickly from my brain. Eventually I made a habit of reading the papers about the topics I found especially interesting in the weeks after the conference. That solidifies and expands the new knowledge.
Happy science! – Klaus
