APSA

[browneyedgirl]

for something a little different, looking ahead to warmer months... is anyone planning on attending this year, either participating or observing?

[Purgatory]

me ! Heh, well I doubt they accept papers and panels so late so probably it'll be best to be a spectator first year yea?

[Penelope Higgins]

It's not quite as hard as getting into grad school, but APSA accepts well under half of proposals for most of its sections... so many of us go as "spectators"...

[browneyedgirl]

I'm curious about what to expect, as it'll be my first time in attendance. I've been offered a poster presentation and it seems rather 'middle-school science fair,' so I'm trying to envision how best to set up such a thing... any thoughts from anyone who's been there, or has experience with these posters?

[alanapsci]

Congrats Browneyedgirl! I don't know if APSA is the same as ISA, but I would assume it is.... I actually was on a panel and gave a presentation but I did have friends who did the poster presentation. They were in a ballroom type room and each had a desk and chair. On the desk was a big poster that highlighted their best ideas and seeked to attract a person to ask more questions. Some used pictures, diagrames... Then people would meader around the poster presentations in their free time and ask questions. Be sure to have extra copies of your work to hand out.

Good Luck!

[AllFiredUp]

What is ISA.

[Penelope Higgins]

alanapsci has the APSA poster scene about right - on the one hand, you don't have a captive audience of folks in the room who sit to hear you talk, but on the other, you get to have more intensive one on one conversations with the people who are interested enough to stop and look at your poster. I would prepare something to hand out, and be able to explain your work in 60 seconds - you should get some interesting questions from that...

Congratulations on the acceptance.

ISA, by the way, is the International Studies Association - IR and IR/Theory focused conference, happening this week in San Francisco. It attracts more non-US and non-mainstream work, but only really within those subfields. And (in my brief career) it tends to be in more interesting places than APSA, which rotates Boston/Philadelphia/DC/Chicago or something like that...

[detroitfan]

I think the preceding comments were on the nose. I wouldn't worry about getting grilled on your poster. It's a really laid back, low-stress environment. It tends to attract a more general crowd than papers will. I wouldn't abandon your poster for a long period of time, but I also wouldn't be shy about looking around at other peoples posters that may be related to your work. It's a nice opportunity to meet scholars with similar interests and at similar stages in their career. Congrats and enjoy.

[browneyedgirl]

thanks, everyone! I'm looking forward to it - and will perhaps see some of you there?