When a Conference Ghosts You, Or What Not to Do If You Are a Conference Organizer

I’ve had some pretty interesting luck with conferences lately. I use the word interesting in the same way one uses it when you don’t want to say something completely bad but in reality it’s completely bad. So I decided I am going to write a blog post about it.

I am supposed to give a paper at a conference in about 3 weeks. It’s on a topic I study and a topic that I love. Okay so what’s the problem you are asking? I haven’t heard from the conference organizers since the beginning of August. I have no venue, no program, no registration information, nothing. So I went in search of that information for myself this weekend- only to find that the conference organizers domain had expired. Ya, so I guess you can figure how I felt about that. And before you say what sort of shady conference is this?- I did my due diligence- they have put on at least 5 conferences on other themes before and at various universities across Canada. I read previous programs-it all seemed legit. But now I’m thinking it’s so not and I’m going to have a free Saturday at the end of the month.

I have gathered my research and did my outline and though I was supposed to start writing the paper about 2 weeks ago I haven’t- probably because of some academic sixth sense. I still have time if this turns out to be legit and just the most poorly organized conference ever, but I will be honest and say I’m not even sure I want to present there anymore. When I was doing my PhD one of my professors said the point of comps (or qualifying exams) was to prepare you to write your conference papers on the plane on the way to the conference. Though I have never done that nor would my over-organized self let me do that- I have never forgotten this adage.

In the summer I was accepted to a well-known Victorianist conference in England. The problem, they never told me. Yup, they never contacted me to say I got in so when I didn’t hear from them I assumed they didn’t accept my proposal. In fact what happened is that they completely and horribly misspelled my name and so I never got the email. On their website was what they thought my name was with my really nice Ruskin paper title. Their apology was not very sincere and since this is twice this particular conference has done something like this to me I’ve learned my lesson to never submit to them again.

So all this got me thinking that a do’s and don’ts for conference organizers would be good. I’ve organized conferences; I know it’s not easy. But there seems to be a rash of shoddily organized conferences that maybe a reminder is needed. So here goes:

Do’s

Get the delegates’ name, salutation, and affiliation right: Seriously it’s not that hard. If they have sent you contact information use it and double check your emails.You have no idea how many conference badges that say Ann with an 'e'. Also if you have an electronic system that auto-populates institutions don’t just assume people will come from the US and England. There are colleges and universities in Canada too-add those institutions as well.

Communicate often and clearly: I’m not saying email every week. I’m saying don’t leave people guessing 3 weeks before your conference. Don’t make people have to search for that information themselves. You should be emailing delegates once 2 months away from the date, again 1 month away from the date, and twice in the 2 weeks coming up to the conference. People want to know they are going to show up to people being there.

Put costs for the conference on website, don’t make it a surprise: I’m looking at you Victorianist associations on both sides of the pond. Oh yay I got into that conference. Oh boo I can’t go because it turns out the registration fee is £350 or $450USD. Who has that kind of money? That’s called gatekeeping and it sucks. Also see my don’ts below.

Don’t 

Assume access for your delegates: Make your conference accessible. Have microphones- don’t assume everyone will have a loud voice or be able to hear everything without a mic. Caption media- all media- even your Keynote’s media. I don’t care if they are a big name person- caption their media! Also arrange seating to fit a wheelchair going through the aisle. Add quiet time to the conference. There’s so many ways to not assume access.

Make your conference prohibitively expensive for grad students and ECRs: If you are trying to get exposure in academe you need to present at conferences. Making conference fees the same amount an early career researcher would pay for rent sucks. Don’t do it- have a reduced fee for grad students and ECRs.

There are so many more things but I’d like to hear from you. What are your conference organizing do’s and don’ts?