How to make the most of practitioner conferences after arriving home...

So you recently attended a practitioner-oriented conference for professionals working in the post-secondary sector…

Now what?

Hopefully, it was a fun and rejuvenating experience reconnecting with longtime colleagues and/or making new ones. Particularly after several years spent apart during a global pandemic.

This reflects an important aspect of what makes conference participation so valuable. Finding and reconnecting with one’s professional communities can be energy-giving, which is great for motivation and well-being.

Of course, the value of practitioner-oriented conferences extends well beyond this important aspect. Attendees can anticipate opportunities to:

Engage with new ideas, concepts, and knowledge pertaining to trending topics in the field,
Learn about “tried and tested” initiatives at other institutions that might be adapted to respond to apparent needs at one’s own college or university,
Make meaningful connections with individuals undertaking comparable work and/or serving in roles they aspire to,
Access spaces and networks offering community and mentorship to those navigating the field while identifying as members of racialized and/or other equity deserving/denied groups.
Interact with recent research findings presented by scholars in this field.

And of course, you can apply to present a session- supporting collective learning while furthering your communication skills. A byproduct of doing so is promoting the good work and efforts of your institution. Inevitably, this contributes to positive perceptions of the latter as a “leader” or “innovator” in the field.

As a conference participant, you likely already know these things. This summary is meant to stimulate your thinking re: how you perceive the value of your conference participation. Also, to provide some external commentary you can point to if/when seeking to convey this value to others.

Naturally, there are associated expenditures- in the form of association memberships, registration fees, and travel/accommodation. Attendees typically participate during paid work hours (as they should), meaning that participation reflects an employer’s willingness to direct staff-related resources towards the event.

So how might you maximize your overall conference experience?

This post focuses on what you can do post-conference; I plan to write more about preparing for conferences in a future post.

Participation, in and of itself, will likely generate good value for you. Actions taken post-conference, however, tend to have a multiplier effect.

For example:
You might consider journaling or chatting with colleagues to further clarify what you valued most about your experience. Revisiting the conference schedule and/or any notes taken can help with recall.

Sample prompts:

Which sessions, conversations, and/or interactions come to mind first?
Who or what helped you to think in new and/or different ways?
Are there new ideas or initiatives that your institution ought to explore?
Did you come across any literature, media, or other resources that you’d like to engage with and/or share with colleagues?
Who do you want to stay connected to/follow-up with?
Anything you’d like to carry forward when planning internal professional development opportunities at your institution?

Next, you might take some time to identify and prioritize post-conference action items- for yourself, or perhaps as a group of colleagues.

You might use a “S.M.A.R.T. goals” approach (Doran, 1981), your calendar and/or other accountability tools (or an accountability partner) to make things happen.

Finally, it’s always a good idea to indicate to others (including students) when you are drawing from knowledge gained as a result of conference participation. Doing so can:

Support how professional development is perceived in terms of budget priority,
Recognize the role of student-provided financial resources in enabling participation,
Inspire additional staff to want to participate in the future!

You might also consider sharing conference-related feedback with the person(s) who supported your participation (e.g., a supervisor).

This could take the form of a written note of appreciation or a conversation.
Your feedback could potentially inform subsequent decision-making re: professional development.

All of this comes with a bonus: when colleagues perceive you as keen to learn, and likely to implement and/or share knowledge and ideas… additional opportunities might come your way.

So thinking back to your most recent conference, what are 1-3 post-conference action items that you’d like to set as goals for yourself?

I’d love to hear about any of your post-conference wins when you have them.

Until then, wishing you a beautiful start to summer!
-Jacquie

P.S. A huge thanks and shoutout to Jen Hamilton and the folks at CACUSS for hosting yet another informative and fun event this year! I greatly appreciated the opportunity to share preliminary findings with research stakeholders. Kudos to you for all of your hard work and efforts!

References
Doran, G.T. (1981) There’s a SMART way to write management’s goals and objectives. Management Review, 70, 35-36.