A short course I teach to engineering PhD students and RAs on getting the most out of conferences

1. Getting the most out of
conferences
Dr. Diana Maynard
Senior Research Fellow
Dept of Computer Science

2. Overview
1. Why conference attendance is important
2. Finding the right conference
• not all conferences are equal
3. How to prepare beforehand
• identifying useful contacts and getting in touch
• scoping the talks
4. Importance of your online profile
• before, during and after a conference
5. Networking at the conference
• strategies for talking to other delegates and making contacts
6. Following up after the conference
• the importance of keeping in touch afterwards

3. 1. Why go to conferences?
“I’m an engineer, I don’t want to talk to people!”

5. Why go to conferences?
• Present your own work
• fame, glory, getting constructive advice
• Improve presentation skills (and learn from others)
• Discussion
• Maybe you’re actually wrong
• Meet people working on similar things
• Research ideas, opportunities for joint work
• Learn about peripheral / complementary research
• Might take your work in new directions?
• Getting yourself known in the field
• Often underestimated importance
• Go to nice places and do fun things
• It’s not all about work

6. The island of San Servolo
(a former insane asylum – now a university)

7. 2. Finding the right
conference
Travel money (and time) are not bottomless:
choose wisely!

9. 2. Finding the right conference
• Specific or generic?
• Big or small?
• Should you always go for the high quality?
• Don’t neglect the social aspect

10. 3. Preparing for a conference
I’ve made my poster / slides. What else do I need to do?

11. 3. Preparing for a conference
• Understand what kind of audience will be attending
• Is it formal or informal?
• What should I wear?
• Are there interesting speakers or influential people going?
• Do you know any of the attendees/presenters? Use your contacts!
• What are the interesting topics/talks?
• Are the full papers already available? Read some interesting ones on the
plane!
• Make a plan (even if you don’t stick to it)
• It’s OK not to attend everything!

12. 4. Your online profile
Internet stalking is an integral part of academia J

13. 4. Your online profile
• Don’t stalk people on the internet J but do interact with useful
contacts if appropriate
• Just as you will be checking others out, expect the same in return
• Make sure your web page is up to date
• Set up and maintain a LinkedIn profile
• Consider using Twitter for academic purposes
• Use SlideShare for distributing your talks (if appropriate)
• A bit of self-promotion is necessary, but don’t go overboard
• Be interesting!

14. 5. Networking at the
conference
Do I really have to talk to people?

15. “Please don’t
make us talk to
each other!”

16. 5. Networking
• Most people’s biggest nightmare, but it’s worth learning to do this
• People like being asked about their work! But you can also talk about other
things
• People standing on their own looking uncomfortable are almost always
dying for someone to come and talk to them
• Don’t be scared of talking to professors
• The social aspect is critical: you’ll get more benefit from the discussion
over a coffee or a drink than you’ll ever get from listening to a talk
• The more you do it, the more people you’ll know, and the less painful it
becomes

17. Talking to someone you don’t know
• Who should you approach?
• How do you start a conversation with someone you don’t know?
• How do you find something in common?
• What to do if you get stuck with someone

18. Tips on talking to people
• Start a conversation about
• the keynote talk / last session: “What did you think of the talk?”
• the other person: “Are you giving a talk at the conference?”
• the weather / food / drink / the city: “Did you try these biscuits? I love flapjack.”
• Find yourself some company for dinner / other activities
• Ask directly: “Do you have plans for tonight?”
• Try to attach yourself to a group: “That sounds interesting, can I join you?”
• Exit a boring conversation politely
• “That was really interesting, but I need to go and prepare for the next session /
take care of some emails / get some more coffee / get a bit of fresh air / catch
Professor X over there before he disappears”

19. Practical exercises
• Exercise 1: in pairs, find a common interest with someone you don’t
know (3 minutes)
• Exercise 2: start a conversation with someone you don’t know
• Exercise 3: finish a conversation without being rude
• You can practice these in everyday life too. Try talking to someone in the
bus stop or supermarket queue. But choose wisely!

20. 6. After the conference
Aren’t we done yet?

21. 6. After the conference
• You may want to lie down in a darkened room, sleep and not talk to anyone
for a week.
• Did you meet any interesting people? Drop them a message so they don’t
forget you.
• Did you learn about anything interesting? Write it down!
• Consider writing up a summary of your experience (privately or publicly)
• Use social media to share your thoughts and/or promote your slides/paper
etc.
• Consider good and bad points – was it a good conference to go to? Could
you have done something differently?

22. Summary
• Do go to conferences, even if you hate travel and other people
• Think carefully about which conferences to attend (is the one on the
beach in Hawaii actually going to be useful to you?)
• Do a bit of preparation beforehand (find out about others; expect
others to find out about you)
• Networking is critical (and it does get easier. It can even be fun)
• Follow up contacts afterwards, and consider what you’ve learnt
• Get involved (reviewing, organizing etc.)