hip2btriangle Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 Wahoo! A paper of mine has been accepted into a roundtable at the ASA meeting in August. Has anyone ever done one of these before? This is actually going to be my first time presenting ANY piece of research (ever), and I really welcome any long-winded explanations about what their experience was like and yada yada. Do I just read my paper? Since it's a roundtable -- not a formal presentation -- does that mean everyone gets a copy of the paper and then we just discuss it? I'm really coming from nothin' here. Help!
hoobers Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 Congrats! I've never presented at these, but I attended a few at last year's ASA. They are really not intimidating: just a small round table with 3 presenters and 5 or so interlopers. Papers get presented and discussed. You can hand out copies, but I don't think you have to. They feel a lot like grad seminars.
scsuh Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 I was lucky enough to be nominated by a mentor to present at an undergraduate research conference at UCSD. I presented my thesis in roundtable discussion form (a few faculty members + other presenters). Basically, each presenter had 15 minutes to summarize or draw from an excerpt of his/her thesis. I was allowed access to a computer for Powerpoint slides. After my presentation, people at the table would ask me questions about my topic and we discuss finer points. UCSD Faculty members would often give constructive criticism (nothing too negative) and suggest topics for further research. Overall, it was a great, yet nerve-racking experience. Good luck to you!
SDeviation Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 I presented at both a roundtable and a regular session (Disaster) last year. The roundtable is really no sweat. Typically the session organizer will group topics and you will have the email address of all individuals at your table. In my experience, everyone simply emailed each other their papers as really the session is so short if anyone is going to provide meaningful feedback they should have the paper read prior (though I got the impression a few individuals couldn't be bothered to read the other papers at the table). Also, a lot of people will probably drop out of your table (as they may have only been budgeted by their department/work for an actual presentation). My table had two full-fledged PhD, two doctoral students, and one MA student (me). The session organizer was parked at our table the whole time, which was neat. So in other words, relax, it is a generally low-key and enjoyable experience.
SDeviation Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 To more directly answer your question - read everyone else's paper and have some questions prepared if you want to actively participate, and be prepared to give a 10-15 minute "overview" of your paper. Again, informal is fine - explain the paper as you would to a fellow student or colleague. No PowerPoints, no handouts, just the highlights.
hip2btriangle Posted February 25, 2009 Author Posted February 25, 2009 Phew. This is all good to hear. Yay stress-free trip to SF!
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