So Who's Attending and/or Presenting at PAMLA Next Week?

[toasterazzi]

I remember it coming up in various threads earlier this year that several people were attending this year's PAMLA conference, and I figured it might be worthwhile to have a thread where we can all congregate and talk (read: freak out) about it.

 

For my part, I'll be presenting in the one of the first sessions on day one in my first time presenting ever. Lucky me? 

[iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns]

My friend is presenting!

Yay to her - an undergraduate from the lovely state of Michigan presenting out in sunny California.

[toasterazzi]

Nice. I'm definitely excited about getting a chance to escape the chill of the midwest hehe.

[bdon19]

Hi lovely GradCafe friends, I'll be making the trek from NC to Cali for my first real (read: not undergraduate) conference!  Yay!

[dramakat]

I'll be there chairing a panel on the first day! The first time I presented at a larger, non-graduate student conference, I went on the first day bright and early, first of the conference, actually, and it was nerve wreaking to go first, but it was nice to get it out of the way and I was able to enjoy the rest of the conference without the stressing about the presentation.

Mocha, what panel are you on? My friend is chairing one of the first panels on Friday, Detective I.

[dramakat]

Nice. I'm definitely excited about getting a chance to escape the chill of the midwest hehe.

I hope it's sunny then! It's been chilly down here lately. But mid-70s is chilly for a native CA, maybe not for anyone from the east coast and Midwest.

[toasterazzi]

The first time I presented at a larger, non-graduate student conference, I went on the first day bright and early, first of the conference, actually, and it was nerve wreaking to go first, but it was nice to get it out of the way and I was able to enjoy the rest of the conference without the stressing about the presentation.

 

That's how I'm trying to look at it as well

 

I hope it's sunny then! It's been chilly down here lately. But mid-70s is chilly for a native CA, maybe not for anyone from the east coast and Midwest.

 

It's currently 38 degrees where I am. Today's high is a toasty 47 degrees lol. We're supposed to have 50 and 60 degree weather with rain for a lot of the next week and a half. So the weather in CA will be a much appreciated change of pace for me hehe.

[dramakat]

That's how I'm trying to look at it as well

 

 

It's currently 38 degrees where I am. Today's high is a toasty 47 degrees lol. We're supposed to have 50 and 60 degree weather with rain for a lot of the next week and a half. So the weather in CA will be a much appreciated change of pace for me hehe.

Oh! then you'll definitely enjoy the weather!  I just noticed your cat pic with the scarf, I have to laugh because I actually have tattoo of a cat in a scarf.

 

Good luck with the presentation!  

[toasterazzi]

Ah yes, that's Pusheen dressed up as Harry Potter. I think it's appropriate for the season

[Gauche]

I'll be there chairing a panel on the first day! The first time I presented at a larger, non-graduate student conference, I went on the first day bright and early, first of the conference, actually, and it was nerve wreaking to go first, but it was nice to get it out of the way and I was able to enjoy the rest of the conference without the stressing about the presentation.

Mocha, what panel are you on? My friend is chairing one of the first panels on Friday, Detective I.

 

If you're referring to the panel The Other Detective, the chair is a friend of mine too and the professor who came up with the panel is one of my mentors.

 

I'd love to be at PAMLA, but I'm swamped with lots of projects and grading. Maybe next year!

[toasterazzi]

Just a few days away now. My excitement is really starting to pick up. I've looked at the program, and it looks like there's be some great presentations. Yay for learning and whatnot

[toasterazzi]

Definitely happy that I got my presentation out of the way in the first session. Also, I'm loving this weather and scenery

[bdon19]

Man, that was a great conference!  Don't think I met any Gradcafe-ers there, but I had a splendid time!

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

Am I the only one who was extremely disappointed? This was my first "real" conference and I expected it to be huge. I guess I thought we'd be in big conference rooms talking to at least 50 people. We were in hotel rooms, where they had removed the beds (and you could still see the headboards), added like 15 chairs and a podium. There were 3 people on my panel, including myself, and I think we talked to like 8 people. 

 

It just seems silly to have flown all the way across the US to talk in front of 8 people

 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the experience of writing the paper and getting the practice of speaking in front of people, but if this is what our conferences look like in the English field, I'm going very bummed : (

Edited November 6, 2013 by BunnyWantsaPhD

[iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns]

Bunny, I heard similar complaints from a friend of mine. You're not alone.

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

Thank goodness! I thought I was going crazy when someone else on here said it was amazing. I was pretty disappointed in the experience. I've heard from others that this is just how conferences are--is that true?

[iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns]

I attended an interdisciplinary conference (pertaining to tech writing) and I had the exact opposite reaction. Everyone was awesome. The presentations were awesome. The rooms were well suited for discussion and we were all interested in sharing ideas.  It was a true community of scholars!

I was lucky. I had a very healthy turn out for my presentation.


Did you enjoy visiting other panels, Bunny?
 

[toasterazzi]

Am I the only one who was extremely disappointed? This was my first "real" conference and I expected it to be huge. I guess I thought we'd be in big conference rooms talking to at least 50 people. We were in hotel rooms, where they had removed the beds (and you could still see the headboards), added like 15 chairs and a podium. There were 3 people on my panel, including myself, and I think we talked to like 8 people. 

 

It just seems silly to have flown all the way across the US to talk in front of 8 people

 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the experience of writing the paper and getting the practice of speaking in front of people, but if this is what our conferences look like in the English field, I'm going very bummed : (

 

Well, it was a regional conference so I figured it would be on the smaller side. Though, from what I've heard, the attendance at PAMLA has been increasing every year. I only attended one session that was in a hotel room, and I thought that was a bit weird. I thought all the other rooms were fine though, and the fact that some of the sessions were on the boat was pretty cool to me.

 

I presented in the first session of the first day and there were maybe 8 people in the audience, but I kinda expected that given the time. Also, I tried to keep in mind that there were 10 or so sessions for each time slot, so people were pretty spread out. There were some sessions I went to that were pretty full though. 

 

I didn't really mind that it wasn't a packed room for everything though. To me, it made the sessions a bit more intimate and more people got to/felt comfortable enough to express their opinions than I think would've been heard in a larger group.

[BunnyWantsaPhD]

I attended an interdisciplinary conference (pertaining to tech writing) and I had the exact opposite reaction. Everyone was awesome. The presentations were awesome. The rooms were well suited for discussion and we were all interested in sharing ideas.  It was a true community of scholars!

I was lucky. I had a very healthy turn out for my presentation.

Did you enjoy visiting other panels, Bunny?

 

 

The presentations I saw were pretty good, and the audience had questions for everyone. I wasn't really disappointed in that regard. I just thought it was odd that I never saw more than 10 people in the audience for the sessions I attended.

 

 

Well, it was a regional conference so I figured it would be on the smaller side. Though, from what I've heard, the attendance at PAMLA has been increasing every year. I only attended one session that was in a hotel room, and I thought that was a bit weird. I thought all the other rooms were fine though, and the fact that some of the sessions were on the boat was pretty cool to me.

 

I presented in the first session of the first day and there were maybe 8 people in the audience, but I kinda expected that given the time. Also, I tried to keep in mind that there were 10 or so sessions for each time slot, so people were pretty spread out. There were some sessions I went to that were pretty full though. 

 

I didn't really mind that it wasn't a packed room for everything though. To me, it made the sessions a bit more intimate and more people got to/felt comfortable enough to express their opinions than I think would've been heard in a larger group.

 

I didn't know some of the sessions were on the boat! That is cool--though, I did feel a little sea sick when I did the boat cruise.

 

Don't get me wrong, I would be terrified to speak to 50 people, but I just thought it seemed odd to fly across the country to speak to 8 people. I just hope that this isn't the way all conferences are because I was looking forward to this being part of my academic life (not that I'll stop presenting, obviously)

[bdon19]

Well, most of my friends who've presented at similar regional MLAs told me to expect maybe 10 people at the most--I think that's pretty standard--so I was actually happy to see like 15 people show up for my panel!  The last conference I went to (AWP), most panels were similarly attended, with the exception of the ones where bigger names (think Cheryl Strayed and the like) were panelists--those had big turnouts, but really, only like 50-75 people fit in those rooms.  So think our attendance was pretty normal for a conference consisting mostly of grad students.  That being said, I had an awesome time!