Maximizing the Conference Experience: Tips to Effectively Navigate Academic Conferences Early in Professional Careers

Abstract

Most behavior analysts who are certified or licensed regularly attend professional conventions to obtain required continuing education credits and remain current with advances in clinical applications and research findings. As the number of behavior analysts in the profession grows, so, too, does the number of novice conference attendees at professional events. Attending conferences can be exhilarating to those who are new to the field and the context of professional events. The purpose of this article is to provide practical guidance on the topics of how to thoughtfully select a conference, how to set goals for attending (e.g., strengthening skills, developing new skills, networking), and how to proactively plan for an upcoming conference, as well as some consideration for after the conference has ended.

Creating a Professional Network: A Statewide Model to Support School-Based Behavior Analysts

“…This network should include professionals who have a shared interest in behavior analysis and practicing in schools. Members of one’s network can act as mentors, collaborators, information sharers, problem solvers, advice givers, and sounding boards (Becerra et al, 2020 ). Conferences are one mechanism to grow a professional network (Becerra et al, 2020 ) by offering access to other professionals, which can provide support at any stage of one’s career.…”

“…Members of one’s network can act as mentors, collaborators, information sharers, problem solvers, advice givers, and sounding boards (Becerra et al, 2020 ). Conferences are one mechanism to grow a professional network (Becerra et al, 2020 ) by offering access to other professionals, which can provide support at any stage of one’s career. However, conferences are costly and school districts may, or may not, be willing to financially support BCBAs in this manner.…”

“…Briggs, 2010 ), and the end of their formal supervisory relationship. Despite these losses, BCBAs are expected to maintain and grow in their skills once they have achieved certification (BACB 2019 ; Becerra et al, 2020 ; Brodhead et al, 2018 ). Effective supports are needed for this to occur.…”

Online conferences for better learning

“…This suggests that online conferences need to include accessible content through recordings and slide decks and that discussion should be moderated with a clear code of conduct (Table 1, items 1-4). This active engagement with speakers is both a form of professional development and networking important to many faculty and researchers (Becerra et al, 2020;Sousa & Clark, 2017), and there is interest in conference-based online social networking provided wisdom and privacy are promoted-that is, imagine if the conference website was more like a blog and less like a list of static timetables (Levy et al, 2016).…”

“…This suggests that online conferences need to include accessible content through recordings and slide decks and that discussion should be moderated with a clear code of conduct (Table 1, items 1–4). This active engagement with speakers is both a form of professional development and networking important to many faculty and researchers (Becerra et al., 2020; Sousa & Clark, 2017), and there is interest in conference‐based online social networking provided wisdom and privacy are promoted—that is, imagine if the conference website was more like a blog and less like a list of static timetables (Levy et al., 2016). Effective engagement through learning at conferences can build new opportunities for research capacity and partnerships with environmental managers and stakeholders (Cooke et al., 2017), and online formats can be even more effective than in‐person because of remote collaboration and reduced to no travel costs (Julsrud et al., 2014).…”