Navigating your conference campaign

Your party enters the dungeon conference hall. Ahead of you stretches miles of tunnels, littered with traps and treasures. It will take keen skill and a sharp eye to avoid unexpected spike pits, social faux pas, and mimics disguising their comments as questions. But once you navigate the terrors of the dark then you will find the loot at the center, which offers rich rewards for grad students and faculty alike: opportunities to build a scholarly identity, mythic glimpses at the latest research, weaponry for conquering the ills of society; new campaign partners, and, of course, magnificent feasts. 

With conference season upon us, this Big Tent meeting will help you descend into the conference depths and build your confidence.

In this session we will: 

• Share stories about conferences we’ve attended—what we’ve found successful and what we wish we’d done differently.  
• Discuss our conference personas 
• Get feedback on your elevator pitch 

To prepare for the session, there are three tasks:  

• Read this article from the Chronicle of Higher Education: https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-make-the-most-of-an-academic-conference
• Fill out your conference character sheet

• Prepare (or practice) a 1-minute elevator pitch
  • Not sure what goes into an elevator pitch? Check out this resource!

Roll Initiative!

(special thanks to u/Abrytan for help with the blog post!)