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Seven ways to figure out whether you're a junior prof:

1. You spend a lot of time avoiding committee meetings
2. You've hidden from a student by diving under the desk
3. Achieving a personal life is on your list of things To Do
4. You still haven't given up on the idea of Free Food
5. Your real expertise lies in exploring the local happy hour scene
6. You're always working on your "Book"
7. You spend more than 8 hours a day contemplating alternate career plans

Monday, March 16, 2009

How many conferences?

This is a question that plagues me. On the one hand, I have been told that conference papers do not a tenure case make. On the other hand, going to conferences enables you to meet people, perhaps impress them with your well-composed talk, and network, which does affect your ability to create a list of external tenure reviewers. For non-tenure-track folks, conferences also introduce you to people who might write letters for your job application or who might be in a position to hire you. So how many a year?

I sometimes wish that we gave papers like figure skaters or gymnasts delivered routines. You make one great paper per year and then go around delivering it to various audiences. Given how small many conferences are, this practice would perhaps be most useful. But given that we live in a different world, we can't (though people who have strategies for writing the same paper beneath different titles should chime in). So how many a year?

I say 2 or 3. Others can contradict me. But I also want to pre-warn interdisciplinary folks. I have gone to multiple conferences in the past year and I have never encountered audience overlap. A variety of perspectives is good, but you also need to establish a reputation in your primary field. Be strategic.
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2 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 16, 2009 at 11:21 PM

    I think two conferences a year seems right, especially if one of them is a major conference in your field. Personally, I find conferences tiring, but i know some people get energized by them (and they do allow you to justify taking time away from teaching, time that is almost always spent on work), so I can see the case for doing more than two conferences a year.

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  2. OuttaHereMarch 17, 2009 at 1:49 PM

    I agree they're tiring! Strategy is important there too. I've had much better luck networking at smaller, friendlier conferences than at my field's major conference, which I now avoid like the plague.

    One per semester guarantees at least one day off from teaching. If money is tight, though, maybe only one per year, and get your money's worth by actually seeing some of the city!

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