Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Why Conference?

Unfortunately, moving house and a chapter deadline meant I was not able to do a conference report on CRSF 2014 immediately afterwards. Needless to say, it was, as usual, brilliantly organised, and there was always something interesting to go to. Highlights of the day for me included both keynotes, Dr. Mark Bould and Prof. Roger Luckhurst, the Female Roles panel (which I somewhat haphazardly chaired, my first time ever doing that!), the Video Games panel I shared with the awesome Dawn Stobbart, and the Performance and Building Fantasy panels in the afternoon (okay, it was all highlight for me). My only regret was missing the Young Man's first international paper as our panels were running at the same time, but I'm told he did well, so I'm as proud as punch!

I've been thinking a lot about conferences for the last two days, especially as I'm considering putting an abstract in for yet another one, which would make the eleventh conference I've spoken at, and my thirteenth overall. I've spoken in Dublin, Buckinghamshire, Aberdeen, London, and Liverpool. I've spoken on Battlestar Galactica, European Science Fiction, why science fiction characters have no science fiction of their own, the Scream series, Fringe, zombie narratives, Irish science fiction, The Lord of the Rings, All-Star Superman, and most recently, the Portal video game series.

Clearly I have a love of conferences. In fact, I like them so much, I did three in a six week period, two of them being a week apart. This love may pall when I organise my own conference someday, but I really do enjoy them. From these conferences, I've managed to publish essays on Battlestar Galactica and The Lord of the Rings. I'm still mildly disappointed with myself for not submitting my All-Star Superman for the book which came out of that conference, but timewise, it just wasn't possible (links to these books will be at the bottom of this post).

I have a particular approach to conference papers, at least part of which I'm sure is shared by many academics:

Step 1: Am I interested in this topic? Conferences tend to take time out of your usual academic work, so do something which interests you passionately, but which you can't devote a lot of time to right now. Remember this is not a journal article; this is your presentation of an interesting idea you've had, and what does everyone else think? CRSF is also a chance to present your thesis work for feedback, so if you're a spec fic researcher, start looking out for next year's cfp! (Seriously, this is an awesome conference, I'm already working on an abstract for next year.)

Step 2: No more than 8-9 pages, double spaced, Times New Roman, size 12. This keeps me within the 20 minute mark, and if it goes a little shorter, all the better. Twenty minutes is the outside limit, and having once had to adlib the last three pages of a paper, going under is a far better idea than going over. And going over is the absolute best way to piss off your fellow panellists, and questions at the end are a lot more fun if ye all get along. There's a picture of me and a fellow panellist chatting before our papers from the Tolkien conference, and someone (jokingly) captioned it as us getting into a debate. Perhaps I have resting bitch face, but we were wishing each other luck! Similarly, Dawn Stobbart and I had a nice chat before our panel at CRSF this year, so I felt really comfortable standing next to her and answering questions. In short, be nice to your fellow panellists! They are usually pretty interesting people.

Step 3: Try to practise, if there's time. Otherwise, just speak slowly and hope for the best. And for the love of all the gods in existence, try to look up. Some of us are half deaf and need your face directed at us to hear clearly. Some of my speech and drama training kicks in automatically for me, and I get the projection going, but some practise is still a good idea.

Step 4: No text on the Powerpoint except for the title slide. This is a personal preference. I want people to look at pictures and admire them, not read something while I'm trying to talk. For common Powerpoint mistakes, look at this hilarious video: Life After Death by Powerpoint. Simpler is always better.

Step 5: Take it as an opportunity to try to be entertaining. This is important, I think. Conferences are long days, and people's attention can wane. This is why Step 1 is important; if you are interested, so are others. I finished my zombie talk with a picture of me done up as a zombie. Sadly, the last audio clip on my video game presentation failed, so I had to let everyone know GLaDoS wanted to hurl a last insult at them. Dr Bould and Professor Luckhurst were fantastic examples of this; informative, but interesting and entertaining. Most of the speakers at CRSF this year were the same, though you can tell who's been doing this for years based on how comfortable they are giving the talks. I'm continually aiming for that level of 'look relaxed and make it clear I know everything about this subject'. I'm not sure I'm there yet...

Step 6: Avoid theory heavy stuff. This is not to say you shouldn't include theory, if it suits the topic. My first paper was on Judith Butler's identity theory, but I (surprisingly as it was my first conference) moved on as quickly as possible from the theory to talking about how it applies. I find theory heavy papers tend can be prone to running long (I've been fortunate enough not to see it happen often). Also, I think it's usually enough to mention the theorist and let your audience look them up if they want.

Step 7: Enjoy yourself. This is a chance to meet people other than the academics in your university, often specialising in your field, and able to give you feedback on your ideas. Yes, you can get this in your home university, but it is so important to share ideas and knowledge further afield, especially in literary circles. And if you're in a period of writing and no teaching, sometimes a conference might be the only place where you actually meet people for a few months, so the human contact is definitely important. And, as my conference buddies from TCD at CRSF 2012 will attest, you can get to know people from your home university even better when representing your home university and trying to look awesome.

The advantage of a going-away conference over one at your home university is you'll stay for the whole day (or as much as you can manage with travel arrangements) at the going-away conference. For the home one, you'll be likely to still be trying to finish your Powerpoint the morning of the conference. The disadvantage is you might find yourself not getting travel funding from your university. However, I've generally only taken on conferences when I knew for sure I could afford it (even if it was a stretch) without funding.

I love conferences. I love speaking in public on interesting topics in general. If I ever get offered a job as a paid speaker, then hell yes, I am doing that (provided it's talking about generally cool things). And I adore the experience of standing in front of my peers and knowing, no matter how deep into the academic argument I get, they are following along and are interested. I think it's one of the best experiences in being in academia, and what research should be about; the sharing of ideas and thoughts, and having people question and add to those ideas.

So again, to the lads at CRSF, and everyone conference I've ever attended, congratulations. I've always had a blast!



Books:

Tolkien: The Forest and the City, edited by Helen Conrad O Briain and Gerard Hynes
Battlestar Galactica: Mission Accomplished or Mission Frakked Up?, edited by Josef Steiff and Tristan D. Tamplin
Grant Morrison and the Superhero Renaissance, edited by Darragh Greene and Kate Roddy (forthcoming)