Is presenting at conferences worth the time and money?

[guinevere29]

I've applied and been accepted to present a paper at a conference in October and I'm running into all sorts of trouble with funding. This may be partly due to the fact that my research is with the writing center, and not the English department per se, but I've heard rumors it is difficult to get travel grants even within the department. I applied to one travel grant and did not get it. There is another grant I can apply for, but it is offered by the association that is holding the conference, not my institution, so I have no idea what my chances of getting it are. I'm committed to going to this conference regardless, but I'm looking for some general advice on how tenaciously I should puruse presenting at conferences in the future.

 

Does the benefit of having presented at a conference outweigh the potential cost? Is it normal to get funded for conferences, or is it very competitive? Should I limit myself to one a year or attend as many as I can get accepted to present at? 

 

Any help with this would be much appreciated, since I have another opportunity to submit a paper to a conference coming up and I'm not sure whether it's worth the time and effort.

 

Thanks!

[fuzzylogician]

Like everything in academia (and life) it depends. In some fields, presenting at conferences is the most prestigious way of getting your work published, in others journals are more prestigious. It also depends on the conference--some conferences (and conference proceedings papers) are considered more prestigious than others: [disclaimer: field-specific advice starting here] in my field, for minor projects that you are not pursuing for major publication, certain conference proceedings would be a very respectable final resting place. These papers definitely get read and cited very often. Conferences are also good for visibility, as well as for CV building; generally speaking, the closer you get to going on the job market, the more important it is to have some name recognition and to just be out there and be productive. If you're a 1st or perhaps 2nd year, it probably won't hurt if you don't attend conferences at all or if you limit yourself to one a year. It's good for the CV if you have some conference/paper each year, so you can establish a flow to your graduate career and show productivity (but note: numbers and requirements vary widely across disciplines!). If this is your year on the job market, it's probably a good idea to go to as many conferences as possible, even if you're not always funded. Then there are location considerations: some conferences are held in the middle of no where, so even though they are prestigious, the networking options there will be limited and not many people will attend your talk (though you'll still get to write a proceedings paper all the same). For any conference you are considering attending, I'd contact the organizers for help with funding and also for arranging crash space with local graduate students; I've been able to stay with someone almost every time I've attended a conference. So yeah, it's hard to tell you what to do without knowing more about what stage you are in your career, what your CV looks like, how this conference is perceived, what other venues you might have for getting your work out there, etc., but I hope this helps you figure out some of the considerations. 

[guinevere29]

Thanks for the advice. I'm in my first year of PhD school, so just getting started. Just asking around to other grad students in my department I was also advised to either 1) choose conferences that aren't too far or where I know I can stay with someone or 2) conferences that are located somewhere I really want to visit or present networking opportunties I can't find elsewhere. This echoes a lot of what you said of your field. I think I'll probably either limit it to one a year, or use it as an excuse to vist out-of-town friends if they are in the area.

[Roquentin]

Although fully funded conference travel is hard to come by, I tend to worry more about wasting my time than wasting my money. It is easy to overextend oneself with conference commitments. Case in point, I’m scheduled to present four (mostly unwritten) papers in the next seven months (a new personal record!) even though I’m currently working at full capacity on other, more important stuff. I’ll be laughing in eight months, but I’m going to be busy busy busy until then.

 

I plan to limit my future commitments to a couple conferences every year. One per year might be a little light, OP, unless you consistently pick the very best and biggest in your field (btw, I’m in lit. studies too). After all, conferences are a fine way to polish your research. Surely you have more than one project on the go at any given time?

[wildviolet]

There are three major conferences in my field. My first year, I did not attend any conferences, but this coming year, I'll most likely be presenting at two (possibly three) conferences, with the major one in my field as first author on a related paper set. I'm very lucky in that the graduate student organization at my university provides conference grants of $300 (once during your tenure as a grad student) and my department provides $500 if you are presenting and $300 if you are attending (every year). It's pretty amazing (but then again I knew this when I applied for admission to this department). On top of this, my professors also have NSF grants that can pay for part of the conference (like plane tickets and conference fees). So, along with getting a hotel room with other grad students, attending conferences should pretty much be free for us.

 

As for being worth the time and money... In my field, yes! This is where much of the networking happens, with professors introducing you to their colleagues in their networks, etc. Conference presentations, especially at the more prestigious (i.e., harder to get accepted into) conferences, are a necessity for my CV. I'm hoping to have at least one conference presentation every year so that I'll be experienced by the time I'm ready for the job market. In my field, it's rarer to have prestigious journal publications before graduating, so conference presentation are acceptable and necessary. Plus, on my CV, I differentiate between peer-reviewed and invited papers.

Edited September 1, 2013 by wildviolet

[guinevere29]

Thanks for the advice! There are plenty of opportunities to apply for travel grants, I just don't know exactly how competitive they are to recieve until I apply for them. I already sent in paper proposal for one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) conference in my concentration within lit and I know most of the people in my department are going whether they are presenting a paper or not. Even if I don't get accepted to present or get travel money, I'm hoping it will be worth the experience. 

[wildviolet]

Thanks for the advice! There are plenty of opportunities to apply for travel grants, I just don't know exactly how competitive they are to recieve until I apply for them. I already sent in paper proposal for one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) conference in my concentration within lit and I know most of the people in my department are going whether they are presenting a paper or not. Even if I don't get accepted to present or get travel money, I'm hoping it will be worth the experience. 

 

You have to find the fun folks!

 

I went to a conference in Florida where I ditched my official department and hung out with some southern ladies that I had just met and had a great time.

[ToomuchLes]

What about presenting at a conference as an undergrad? I signed up for the Phi Alpha Theta 2014 Biennial Convention as a history major. Even though it will occur after application season is over, Ive talked to the graduate admission coordinator at several schools, and they said I can add it to my CV. 

[TheOnlyWayIKnow]

What about presenting at a conference as an undergrad? I signed up for the Phi Alpha Theta 2014 Biennial Convention as a history major. Even though it will occur after application season is over, Ive talked to the graduate admission coordinator at several schools, and they said I can add it to my CV.

I know I am totally late to the conversation here, but I would say if you have the opportunity as an undergrad to present at a conference do it! Bear in mind that not only is it good experience and may be fun for you if you get to go with other people in your department, but the cold truth is, not everyone makes it into graduate school on the first go. I had to apply twice for an MA program because I made some very rookie mistakes on my applications. I suppose that is the disadvantage of coming from a blue collar background-- I had very little help in undergrad apps as well, but I wouldn't trade it for the world! I had some amazing mentors, but my fierce independence held me back when it came to discussing certain aspects of the application process. After two rounds of apps and four total years of research on graduate schools, the application process, and what I want in a school moving forward, it seems I am the most up to date and informed in my graduate program on what I ought to be doing to land myself in a PhD program.

Everything happens the way it is supposed to-- just work your butt off, do your best, and have faith. I didn't get in on the first round, but as unexpected health issues cropped up, I realized that was a real blessing because it would have held me back had the time and place of my acceptance into school and of an offer been wrong.

Best of luck!

[Fleet23]

I have another rookie first-generation college student question: 

 

There is a conference at my school I am considering applying to present at, so cost wouldn't be an issue.  As a master's student I think I really only have one chance at this.  If my paper fits pretty well with the theme of this small, less prestigious (than other journals I was considering submitting my paper to) conference, should I try for this one, or hold out for a peer-reviewed journal?  (Field:  Education)

 

Any advice is appreciated--I'm pretty ignorant about these things.

[jamc8383]

 If my paper fits pretty well with the theme of this small, less prestigious (than other journals I was considering submitting my paper to) conference, should I try for this one, or hold out for a peer-reviewed journal?  (Field:  Education)

 

 

I don't really understand the conflict here.  Why could you not do both?

 

My process is as follows: Complete paper, present paper at a conference, get feedback, make revisions according to said feedback, submit paper for publication.  Moreover, you can add another step in there: after completing revisions, workshop the paper at another conference and then submit to journals.  Presenting and publishing are not mutually exclusive; they can (and, I believe, should) reinforce one another.

[TakeruK]

I have another rookie first-generation college student question: 

 

There is a conference at my school I am considering applying to present at, so cost wouldn't be an issue.  As a master's student I think I really only have one chance at this.  If my paper fits pretty well with the theme of this small, less prestigious (than other journals I was considering submitting my paper to) conference, should I try for this one, or hold out for a peer-reviewed journal?  (Field:  Education)

 

Any advice is appreciated--I'm pretty ignorant about these things.

 

I agree with the above poster's response. In most fields, you can present a paper at a conference as well as submit it to a peer-reviewed journal. In some fields, the conference presentation is even more prestigious than a journal publication.

 

You should be careful about two things though. Firstly, presenting at a conference before you publish the paper means that other people will know about your work before you publish it. Usually, this is okay because you generally don't present unless you are well into the project and are close to publishing. But, this does introduce a risk that someone will steal your idea and try to publish it first. Or, someone else might have been working on the same idea this whole time and when they see your presentation, they might realise that you are competing with them and that might spur them to finish their work and publish it. In most cases, however, the "publicity" you get from presenting your work at a conference outweighs the potential risks. After all, academia relies on the timely and effective communication of knowledge between scholars!

 

The other thing you should keep in mind is some conferences might publish a conference proceedings, and usually presenters have the option of writing up their presentation or submitting their paper to be published in the proceedings. This is usually fine, but there are some journals out there that will not accept your article if you have published it elsewhere in the past, even if it was "just" a conference proceedings. So, if you plan on eventually submitting your paper to a certain journal, check their publication guidelines. You can usually opt out of the proceedings if your target journal will not accept your article if it contains previously published works.

 

If you are worried about these aspects, I think the best resource would be to talk to your advisor/supervisor about this!

[Fleet23]

Thanks guys, very helpful!

[gingin6789]

I didn't back-read in this thread, but I must add my two cents.

 

I just invested over $1,000 in getting to two conferences, and a huge benefit that I had no idea would happen just happened.  

 

I applied to three universities, but in my SOP, I didn't mention any faculty/professors' names ... I have been kicking myself ever since for merely including my interests rather than people!!!

 

I was going through the program for the conference where I'll be presenting in a few weeks.  I'll be presenting during a mini conference within a larger conference, and the presiding member is none other than someone from one of the universities I applied to ... and she's the one I want to work with should I be accepted to that university's program!!  She is going to hear me present my thesis research and everything!!  I couldn't have asked for a better arrangement!

 

So yes, even besides the manifest benefits, there are latent, unexpected benefits to going to conferences, even when it's hard to find funding or reimbursement!!

Edited February 3, 2014 by gingin6789

[TakeruK]

I was going through the program for the conference where I'll be presenting in a few weeks.  I'll be presenting during a mini conference within a larger conference, and the presiding member is none other than someone from one of the universities I applied to ... and she's the one I want to work with should I be accepted to that university's program!!  She is going to hear me present my thesis research and everything!!  I couldn't have asked for a better arrangement!

 

So yes, even besides the manifest benefits, there are latent, unexpected benefits to going to conferences, even when it's hard to find funding or reimbursement!!

 

That's definitely a great reason to attend conferences! During my application year, I contacted my POIs ahead of time and asked if they would be at the upcoming major conference and if I could talk to them. I got to meet a good number of profs and their students/postdocs this way. This commonly happens in my field as prospective students applying to our school have come up to talk to my colleagues and I once they see the institution name on our nametags! Also, one school I applied to gave us a list of profs who were attending the upcoming meeting and encouraged applicants to seek these profs out during the meeting.

 

In my field, it is abnormal for a student to present at a conference out of their own pocket though. Usually, the supervisor of the work will fund the trip and/or the student can get funding from agencies such as the conference organizers or groups at their home campus that will fund this. I do know a few students who did not present work that did end up attending some conferences for a few days just to make the networking connections. In one student's case, they had previously won an award at their home campus and were using that prize money to attend, which I think is a pretty good investment! Otherwise, spending $500-$1000 to attend a distant conference may be tough for many students' budgets and I am not 100% sure it's worth it if you can't spare that money. It may be possible to attend a conference for much much less if it's close by and/or if you volunteer to help with registration etc. (usually will get you free registration and maybe some meals too).

[gingin6789]

That's definitely a great reason to attend conferences! During my application year, I contacted my POIs ahead of time and asked if they would be at the upcoming major conference and if I could talk to them. I got to meet a good number of profs and their students/postdocs this way. This commonly happens in my field as prospective students applying to our school have come up to talk to my colleagues and I once they see the institution name on our nametags! Also, one school I applied to gave us a list of profs who were attending the upcoming meeting and encouraged applicants to seek these profs out during the meeting.

 

In my field, it is abnormal for a student to present at a conference out of their own pocket though. Usually, the supervisor of the work will fund the trip and/or the student can get funding from agencies such as the conference organizers or groups at their home campus that will fund this. I do know a few students who did not present work that did end up attending some conferences for a few days just to make the networking connections. In one student's case, they had previously won an award at their home campus and were using that prize money to attend, which I think is a pretty good investment! Otherwise, spending $500-$1000 to attend a distant conference may be tough for many students' budgets and I am not 100% sure it's worth it if you can't spare that money. It may be possible to attend a conference for much much less if it's close by and/or if you volunteer to help with registration etc. (usually will get you free registration and maybe some meals too).

 

I got an email from my POI inviting me to a reception for our "mini-conference" within the bigger conference.  I thanked her for the invitation and told her I was looking forward to meeting her, but I couldn't bring myself to say I was applying to her school's program because I didn't want to sound pushy, I guess??  

 

Well, it's kind of awkward for me.  I just graduated in December, so I don't qualify for undergrad funding, and I don't qualify for grad student funding because I'm not a grad student.  I think one of the conferences I'm attending might have a low-income program that can reimburse qualifying members up to $300.  My thesis advisor also said she's going to look into departmental funds to see if I can get about $200 more in reimbursement!  So, if I get that $500, I'll be quite happy. I also get reimbursed $60 for working at the registration table of one of the conferences =)

 

So yes, I would advise keeping an eye out for any sort of funding possibility, no matter if you're an undergrad and qualify for clear-cut funding or if you're in a weird situation like I am! =)