It’s just over 10 years ago that I was preparing to attend my first conference, a workshop in the very pretty Dutch city Groningen. I presented preliminary data from my Master thesis as a poster, and was appropriately nervous and excited. Just a few months later, I even travelled overseas to Boston for another poster presentation.
Looking back I realized that there are many aspects of going to conferences that nobody thought to explain to me. As a consequence, I had to learn to swim pretty fast and in luke-warm to icy water. So to make life a little easier for future generations, here are a few questions I remember having before attending my first conference, and a bunch of “conference hacks” I learned along the way. Of course, they are all based on my personal experiences and viewpoints. Depending on your field and personality, your mileage may vary, as they say.
CogTales 