{"id":74071,"date":"2015-05-13T10:15:45","date_gmt":"2015-05-13T15:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=74071"},"modified":"2015-05-13T10:12:21","modified_gmt":"2015-05-13T15:12:21","slug":"avoiding-that-conference-itch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/?p=74071","title":{"rendered":"Avoiding that \u201cConference Itch\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Samantha Read<\/em>, former Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ New Brunswick\u00a0<\/a>
\npreviously published 6\/10\/14
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

Avoiding that \u201cConference Itch\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"samantharead\"<\/a>Well, folks, we\u2019re in full conference season now. A relative newbie to this scene (I just started in my\u00a0position as Archives Advisor at CANB in February), I attended the CNSA<\/a> conference the other week and will be at the APLA <\/a>conference in Moncton. While two is likely a standard number, this year I chose\u00a0to attend smaller, more local conferences rather than the national ones like CLA<\/a>, ACA<\/a>, or ARMA<\/a>. While\u00a0in this part of the woods some of the museum conferences have stood apart in that they are switching\u00a0their conferences to the fall, all of the major ones listed above are offered in the spring.<\/p>\n

Conferences are an excellent way to step away from your computer screens, to get out there and to see\u00a0what colleagues in other jurisdictions have been up to over the past few years<\/strong>. No matter what your\u00a0specific library field, you\u2019ll likely hear about project\/funding success stories as well as the challenges and\u00a0opportunities that arise throughout them. Hopefully you\u2019ll be inspired by the conferences you attend to\u00a0introduce new programs and initiatives in your individual offices.<\/p>\n

While the many benefits of conference attendance have been covered in other blog posts on this site, in\u00a0this article I\u2019ll teach you how to make the most of your experiences and how to keep your head above\u00a0water, all the while avoiding that \u201cconference itch,\u201d<\/strong> or in other words, information overload or burn-out\u00a0that may result from attending too many conference events in a compact conference season.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Set Goals.<\/strong> The conferences I am attending this year all focus on outreach and advocacy, two\u00a0of the very important yet somewhat elusive activities behind library and archival work. Before\u00a0attending these conferences, I am asking myself: what do I want to get out of my experiences\u00a0at CNSA and APLA? Who do I want to make sure I meet and talk to? Perhaps your main goal in\u00a0attending a conference is to expand your network and create job opportunities for yourself.\u00a0For someone in a good position, you may be attending to increase your professional capacity.\u00a0Maybe your goals are more general. It is easy to align your goals with conference themes,\u00a0but in my case I\u2019d like to go above and beyond learning about cool initiatives in outreach\u00a0and advocacy. I\u2019d like to learn to motivate and engage people to play a greater role in their\u00a0professional archival and library councils\/boards.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Get Involved.<\/strong> Conferences come about as a result of a joint effort between many different\u00a0individuals and usually all of them work on a volunteer basis. Conference organizers have been\u00a0working in some cases for more than a year to get the event off the ground. Most conference\u00a0committees need volunteers for everything from working the registration desk to live-tweeting\u00a0to moderating a session to clean-up duty. Contributing an hour or two as a conference volunteer\u00a0is a great way to learn the nitty-gritty of event planning and coordination and you may even be\u00a0eligible for reduced conference fees!<\/p>\n

\u2022 Ask Questions.<\/strong> Conference sessions usually attempt to present in-depth concepts and ideas\u00a0in relatively compressed time slots. Since you will be attending sessions for several days in a\u00a0row, it is easy to feel overwhelmed with such a deluge of information. One way to maintain an\u00a0open attitude and to remain afloat during discussions is to share your viewpoint. Every session\u00a0will usually end with a short question & answer period. If anything presented was challenging\u00a0for you\u2019re, or if you are sitting there with a great anecdote about from your own professional\u00a0repertoire, share it with the audience. Conferences are meant to teach and engage participants,\u00a0so make sure your learning experiences is an active one!<\/p>\n

\u2022 Switch it up.<\/strong> Conference organizers know the power of a good coffee\/nutrition break. They\u00a0allow time for ideas presented in the sessions to marinate in the attendee\u2019s mind. During these\u00a0breaks, I recommend stepping outside for some fresh air, or at least going into a different part\u00a0of the conference venue. A change of scenery between sessions can do a lot of good.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Attend Social Events.<\/strong> Most conference schedules come with a banquet, or a wine and cheese\u00a0session, or even a dance. Whether it\u2019s a special alumni reception or an awards banquet, these\u00a0are a great opportunity to really do that networking you had planned to do while setting your\u00a0goals. People may have a more relaxed demeanour and be more open to talking to strangers\u00a0during these events than, say, 5 minutes before the key note speakers address or directly\u00a0following the AGM.<\/p>\n

Finally, have fun with it all! Whether you are a seasoned conference-attendee or if it\u2019s your first\u00a0time at a national event, don\u2019t take yourself too seriously. Allow the learning process to occur\u00a0naturally, and everything will fall into place. You\u2019ll come away from your conference with a fresh\u00a0batch of ideas for the next training session you organize for your workplace, or you\u2019ll meet people\u00a0with whom you want to collaborate on an exciting new project.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by\u00a0Samantha Read, former Head Editor,\u00a0INALJ New Brunswick\u00a0 previously published 6\/10\/14 Avoiding that \u201cConference Itch\u201d Well, folks, we\u2019re in full conference season now. A relative newbie to this scene (I just started in my\u00a0position as Archives Advisor at CANB in February), I attended the CNSA conference the other week and will be at the APLA conference…<\/p>\n

Read more \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":71866,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[145],"tags":[69,6289,3592,6287,4238,4391,6288,5919],"class_list":["post-74071","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","tag-article","tag-avoiding-that-conference-itch","tag-blog","tag-conference-itch","tag-conferences","tag-inalj-new-brunswick","tag-making-the-most-of-conferences","tag-samantha-read"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/samantharead.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1WoMK-jgH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=74071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/71866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=74071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=74071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inalj.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=74071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}