Submitting to a Conference

[paraplu]

It's my first time out, and I'm curious how others amongst you have prefaced email submissions of your paper abstract and CV? Does a simple "Good day, Attached please find pieces x, y, and z for your consideration" do the trick? Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[Ganymede18]

that's fine. if you have a title of some sort, include it in the signature.

[goldielocks]

Yep, that's fine. Just "Please find attached" and "Thank you for your consideration." Easy peasy.

[Sigaba]

I would include something in the cover email that added a human touch and gave a brief hint of my strengths as a historian.

Yes, people are busy and yes they have to sort through a lot of paperwork. But they're still people and, IME, some people especially appreciate it when you connect to them as people.

My $0.02

[goldielocks]

I would include something in the cover email that added a human touch and gave a brief hint of my strengths as a historian.

Yes, people are busy and yes they have to sort through a lot of paperwork. But they're still people and, IME, some people especially appreciate it when you connect to them as people.

My $0.02

That's what the CV is for, right? I don't think anyone wants to hear about anything else I have to say that isn't included in the proposal or my CV. But that's just my opinion -- I've never had to sort through emails on the other end of this sort of thing. Though I have watched my advisor do it -- and felt sorry for her as she became more and more swamped by submissions. So I think it's usually best to just stick to the basics.

[Sigaba]

That's what the CV is for, right? I don't think anyone wants to hear about anything else I have to say that isn't included in the proposal or my CV. But that's just my opinion -- I've never had to sort through emails on the other end of this sort of thing. Though I have watched my advisor do it -- and felt sorry for her as she became more and more swamped by submissions. So I think it's usually best to just stick to the basics.

I understand your point.

However, there are intangibles that one cannot convey through a CV. If one includes a paragraph with one or two extra sentences that hints at those intangibles, a reader has the opportunity to read it or to ignore it.

Here's the thing. As I have noted elsewhere, and as some may have noticed, I'm not necessarily people person. (As my mentor put it, I'm not a smiley face.) However, I am someone who is intensely interested in the craft of history. When I let it, this trait frequently gets professors' attention and, often, their respect--if not their agreement.

Ultimately, this is a YMMV situation and these are just my $0.02.

[Professor Plum]

As someone who has been on the other end of this thing, I suggest two sentences: "Attached please find X, Y, and Z materials for Q conference. If I can furnish any other materials to aid in the review, please do not hesitate to let me know."

Usually the person fielding the e-mails simply forwards the attachments to the program committee, who make the final determinations. The cover e-mail is stripped off anyway. (Depending on the profile of the conference, that committee will be reading scores if not hundreds of proposals, and will not do much in the way of extra reading.) Be encouraged--your submission will succeed on the basis of its substantive contributions, and is unlikely to be displaced by somebody who wrote a more ingratiating cover lettter.