Psychology conferences

[PsychGirl1]

Soooo I am going to my first conference next month.

I was looking for some advice or general thoughts on conferences. What should I make sure not to miss? What should I skip? What is the general dress code? Any unspoken rules or etiquette I should know about? Is walking around poster presentations useful? Should I try to network with people in my research area (even if I'm just an unpublished student)? etc.

Thanks!

[lewin]

Some things I've learned going to big conferences that might not generalize to smaller conferences:

• Academic dress codes. But seriously, business casual is probably fine.
  
• I've learned it's better to attend a good talk outside my field than a relevant talk that's bad. So now I look for "big name" people or people who others have told me give good talks.
  
• Keynote speakers are also generally quite good, and give you good small talk when networking.
  
• Poster sessions can be useful to see what else is happening in your area but they're mostly populated by graduate students.
  

Networking is a tougher subject and you'll probably get various opinions on this. We're not profs, so it's hard to say for sure. I have heard from professors that they attend conferences to see their old friends, not to be bothered by strangers. Personally I would feel uncomfortable approaching somebody while they're eating or in the hallway. But it seems like approaching people after their talks is fine--it happens a lot--so if there is somebody you want to meet, attend their talk, go up to the front at the end, and say something nice/smart.

If your conference offers any structured opportunities to meet profs (e.g., a lunch or social hour) take advantage of those.

Networking with other graduate students can be a good idea and the poster session is a good time for initial contact..

[lewin]

P.S., I feel like approaching people to talk about research--especially as an eager, intrinsically motivated, young student--is more allowed than something that comes off as self-interested (e.g., potential grad student, job candidates).

[Behavioral]

Like lewin said, make an impression talking about research and don't ask petty questions. Professors get enough emails about that, and I've come to learn over the years that conferences tend to be where colleagues and friends just like to have fun. Given they're academics, talking about research is still fun, too.

And don't stick out like a sore thumb. I'm in a business program and even the business professors don't dress up business formal at conferences (unless they're on a committee or something). Dan Ariely just gave up our keynote speech at ACR and he did it wearing a tshirt and khakis. Most people just wear jeans or slacks with either a button up shirt or a polo.

[PsychGirl1]

Thanks to you both! Great advice.

[lewin]

I'm not a woman so I can't give real specifics, but I see a lot of women wearing a collared shirt with a sweater over it, and nice slacks. Come to think of it, a lot of men wear that one too.

It's interesting to see what the tenured can get away with. I mean, Dan Ariely is Dan Ariely and grad students probably shouldn't go that casual for a talk. Last conference I saw an exceptionally famous person (i.e., he invented a methodology that revolutionized social psychology in the early 1990's) wearing old jeans and one of the rattiest aquamarine sweatshirts I've ever seen.

[PsychGirl1]

Haha thanks Lewin00. I wouldn't feel comfortable going casual- I don't even wear jeans to lab! (That's what happens when you work for a few years before going onto graduate school). But I'm glad that people aren't walking around in power suits. :-) I'll go business casual for my wardrobe.

I actually worked in Dan Ariely's lab for a year in college, but he was on a continued "temporary sabbatical" that ended up turning into a permanent one. We communicated via email and his grad students signed for him on all my forms. If I ran into him, I probably wouldn't recognize him. And I have no idea what he wore day-to-day!

[Behavioral]

Haha thanks Lewin00. I wouldn't feel comfortable going casual- I don't even wear jeans to lab! (That's what happens when you work for a few years before going onto graduate school). But I'm glad that people aren't walking around in power suits. :-) I'll go business casual for my wardrobe.

I actually worked in Dan Ariely's lab for a year in college, but he was on a continued "temporary sabbatical" that ended up turning into a permanent one. We communicated via email and his grad students signed for him on all my forms. If I ran into him, I probably wouldn't recognize him. And I have no idea what he wore day-to-day!

I met with a few times over the course of a few weeks when I was doing an REU in Chapel Hill; the guy is like any other superstar in the field -- too busy to attend to everything. I just met him again at this past conference and he recognized my face, but totally couldn't remember from where.

Because of these things, I'd definitely be wary of applying under 'superstars' since they may not be the best advisors.

[PsychGirl1]

Concur... it's probably ideal to find a rising star instead (although I guess it's a lot harder to figure out who will become famous eventually).

[Behavioral]

APA/APS usually give honors to exceptional junior faculty (Derek Rucker, Aaron Kay, Pete PcGraw, and Ed Vul come to mind). You can use that as guidance.

[PsychGirl1]

Thanks!

[honkycat1]

what conference? different conferences have very different atmospheres and expectations depend on the people attending.

it could range from drinking wine and beer at poster presentations with a bunch of academics at a conference like psychonomics, to more formal business oriented conference like SIOP where people have different agendas such as selling scales to companies and getting jobs. Not sure what clinicals are like...

[Behavioral]

At the last marketing conference I went to (ACR), it was extremely lax, especially given that it's 1) a business conference and 2) there were a lot of industry vendors and firms looking to recruit there.

There was ample alcohol served throughout the conference for various sessions, receptions, and luncheons.

[PsychGirl1]

It's the ABCT (Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies) conference in Toronto.