64. Maximizing Your Academic Conferences: Strategies for Planning, Networking, and Balancing Work-Life

Want to transform your academic conference experiences? You're at the right place! I'm Inga Hoffman, a Harvard-trained pediatric hematologist, oncologist, and passionate leadership coach, here to invigorate your conference approach with foolproof strategies. This episode is all about making the most of your time at academic conferences. We delve into the nitty-gritty of pre-planning, session selection, networking, and how to maintain that ever-so-fragile work-life balance during conference season.

Dive into our in-depth discussion on attending out-of-town conferences, where we'll explore the importance of meticulous planning, the benefits of reviewing the schedule in advance, and setting up meetings with potential collaborators. Beyond the conference, stay in the loop with our upcoming holiday season updates by joining my email list. Come, share your experiences and learn from a diverse academic community. Let’s revolutionize academic medicine with the Academic Revolution podcast. Here's to a productive conference season!

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

It's fall season and with that, chances are many of you are in the middle of conference season, meaning there's a lot of medical conference going on from your preferred society, from your special interest group, and you're like, how do I make most out of this to make my time a good investment? So stay tuned and we talk about all that today in an upcoming episode. Welcome to the Academic Revolution podcast, where we are creating a movement to change the future of academic medicine forever. I'm Inga Hoffman, a Harvard-trained pediatric hematologist, oncologist and a passionate leadership coach with over 20 years of experience in academic medicine. This is the first podcast for academic physicians that will show you how to achieve higher productivity, become an impactful leader and create a highly successful career doing what you love, without sacrificing your personal life. You and I know that the traditional system is broken, so it's time to say no to the old, published or perished mentality and say yes to lasting change. Join me as we transform academic medicine from the inside out, one physician at a time, starting right here with the Academic Revolution podcast. Well, welcome back to another episode of the Academic Revolution podcast, and this is going to be an exciting series because I want to talk to you about something that comes up all the time how do I best prepare for academic conferences when I travel to make most of my time there? You know holiday season is up on us and what that means. In the fall and pre-holiday there's usually quite a bit of academic conferences national or international going on during this season and later again in the spring that I thought it would be a great time to help you prepare for this season so you can get most out of those conferences and get good bang for your buck and your time investment.

Speaker 1: 2:06

No matter where you are, in what season in your life you might be a young academic, physician, mom kudos to you. I've been there. My kids are now slightly older and it gets a little easier and you're like I don't want to leave my baby at home or my toddler's at home and it feels really gut-wrenching to do that. And trust me, I have been there. You might be out of that season and you're like now, how do I shift my focus in the current state of career I'm in to prepare for the conference and everybody's a bit on a different season. I thought I'm going to give you some general tips and what I learned over the years to make conferences more pleasant of an experience and make them intentional and helpful, so it's not just a social getaway. I mean, if that's you, that's totally fine, that's totally cool, and if that pleases you, that's amazing. Some people roll that like that and that's fine. But I also know that when we take time away from our work, it doesn't get done while we're gone usually, or perhaps you take time away from family. You want that time to be meaningful and therefore I thought it's good to talk about how do we prepare, and so I'm going to get you a little in-sky scoop and how I prepared over the years for conferences and what my system is to help me have a good experience Right.

Speaker 1: 3:32

So I probably will do this in three parts, since there's a lot to talk about Today. I want to talk a little bit about the pre-planning phase, then we're going to talk about an entire episode when you're actually there what are you going to do, and then maybe we're going to pick up on a third episode to sort of talk about the different seasons of life and overcoming the mom or dad guilt being away from home, and how perspectives can shift with the various stages on your career and life you're in and also hopefully give you some reassurance and encouragement in this season that you're in, where you might feel having a hard time leaving your family at home and behind. We've all been there. We have all been there, many of us so I hope this will be helpful. So stay tuned, listen to the entire series and, of course, share it with colleagues and friends. Don't keep the goodies to yourself. I'm always in a big belief that we should create a culture of sharing and caring and academic medicine. Things would get along a lot better.

Speaker 1: 4:38

So let's dive right in into episode one, where I want to talk about how I plan for an effective conference, my pre-arrival plan. That's sort of the title of my episode and that's what we're going to focus on today. So let's dive right in and we'll talk about different aspects of that pre-arrival phase. Basically, you are still at home. You're ready to go to a conference. I'm ready to go to Ash in just a few short weeks.

Speaker 1: 5:08

Ash is the American Society of Hematology. There's about 25,000 people usually at that conference and it's honestly my favorite time of the year. I like it because it breaks up the pre-holiday season with a great time to catch up with colleagues and friends, people that are trained with. I love that time, dive into some training and education and hearing the newest research, and then we dive into the holiday season. So I honestly love that Ash is in December, right before the holidays or smack in the middle between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I enjoy that season very much. But I also understand that it's a very busy season and comes with challenges.

Speaker 1: 5:54

So let me talk about what I have done over the years to refine my process. It's not always perfect, doesn't always go stress-free, but let me share what I have done to prepare well. So there are four components to that. Number one is sort of the simple logistics, then the content what am I focused on learning while I get there? Then, who do I want to meet? And I'm going to share a couple of cool bonus tips for you that will probably make you chuckle, but nevertheless, let's talk about them. So logistics, number one. Obviously you pick your conference, and that is happening way in advance, right? So I'm going to decide early on in the year and, actually, stepping back a second, I usually do that and sort of plan out what are the conferences I want to attend this year.

Speaker 1: 6:44

Now there are some regular ones I typically go to, like Ash, is a good example. I have not missed Ash only one year, when I had a six-week old and I felt like really hard to do a poster presentation with a baby on my arms. And then, of course, the years of COVID, where nobody went anywhere. Otherwise, I've never missed an Ash since I have been a first-year fellow, so I made it always an intention to be there and make it happen and plant my life around it, even when my children were little.

Speaker 1: 7:17

There are other conferences that I might not regularly attend or that I sort of focus on, depending on the year. So you might want to look at next year's conference calendar and set an intention where you actually want to go. It's almost a separate topic, but just look at that and say these are the things I usually attend and I want to maybe attend this one and you want to plan ahead so you have time off, colleagues can cover your service if needed and you make prior arrangements and obviously you book your flights in your hotel early. I cannot help you with how outrageous expensive they are, especially the conference hotels. It's kind of ridiculous even the room blocks, but that is beyond me. But again, you want to get that done early.

Speaker 1: 8:05

So for big meetings I literally put in my calendar. For a thing like Ash, I put in my calendar the day registration opens. And I learned this the hard way because one year I didn't and I ended up way out there somewhere and that was not fun at all. That was way back when I was a trainee, but I'm like I'm never going to do that again. So I put on my calendar the moment hotel registration opens and I book my reservation. I didn't actually do that this year because I travel as a non-profit exhibitor and the schedule's a bit different and you're sort of at the bottom of the food chain, which is kind of a bummer. And then I booked my hotel early. If I already know I'm going, I'm sorry, not the hotel, the flight Hotel, yes, because otherwise you're going to be on a shuttle bus for half an hour or be somewhere where there is no shuttle bus and that's unpleasant. I like to stay close because time is valuable and precious and I rather pay a little bit more, especially when I got it reimpressed and I don't have to pay it on my own that I rather have a short distance to be able to go back to the hotel to take a short break versus hop on a shuttle bus for 30 minutes. But people have different preferences. This is just me. Then book your flight early. That is also just a cost perspective. Right, it will be much cheaper.

Speaker 1: 9:30

Now, if you're booking through your academic institution, you have to check with them what's allowed. The rules have gotten ridiculously complicated and, quite frankly, stupid that we have to use certain portals, and I'm sorry. I wish I could change that, but I cannot. I've been there where you're like why do you let me jump through all these hoops to get an even more expensive flight, but I'm using your silly portal. But sometimes just be aware if this is new to you, just be aware that there are many academic institutions that have very strict rules about travel and reimbursement, that if you don't book it through their portal, you won't get your money back. That's how my institution functions. It's ridiculous, but it is true. So please check, if you're new to all of this with an administrator to make sure you're not getting into trouble with that. We'll have to suddenly pay out of pocket. Same is true for hotels. You usually have to book them through the conference website in order to get reimbursed, so any online deals will not work unless you want to pay for it by yourself. Then you can do, of course, whatever you want. So that is the simple logistics.

Speaker 1: 10:48

Sometimes I also kind of extra tip look at what food options are around. If you're going to a big conference, the food options can be completely disastrous. At the convention center they're expensive, stale food that doesn't taste good and that is hard. Now, if you're like a fancy person, like radiology, it seems like you guys always travel to the best destinations. Well, that's not a Pizzi Monk, doc. We travel to regular places, nothing fancy, nothing tropical. You have to deal with conference food which, honestly, is neither healthy nor tasty, nor it's just often disgusting and overpriced. So you might want to take a look what's actually around, and sometimes I even pack snacks up or buy some while I'm there. So be aware of what your options are.

Speaker 1: 11:39

I have been at conferences where not so much medical, about other conferences that I did on my own, where I was out in an area and then discovered while I was there there's no food options. The hotel breakfast was all and I couldn't even get a good cup of coffee. So just kind of get the lay of the land as you are booking your hotel, because that can make a big impact. If you need a good espresso in the morning, like I do, then you might be in trouble if there's nothing around that you can get to. So that is the first part. Logistics, so pretty straightforward. The second part is the content. Now, what do you want to actually learn and achieve? And I would be very intentional to really think about for this year's conference what do I want to get out of it?

Speaker 1: 12:32

I used to be the person that tried to grab every single talk that I can and that came out of a mindset of I have little children at home or I was not having any children and I squeezed most out of the day. And that was sort of when I was younger. Right, I was trying to get to every single talk that looked interesting or relevant and then, completely, I was stressed and overbooked myself and then by day two of four I was exhausted. Now there is a time and a season for them. Now remember when I had very young kids. I was under the mindset that was just me, but maybe that resonates with some of you. I was under the mindset if I step away from home, leave my young children that I very much care about at home. I'm not here to party, I'm not here to chillax and go on a private vacation paid by my hospital. I wanted to squeeze out of the meeting as much as I can. Now, that is just me, if you like. That meeting is the only time I can have an adult conversation and get away and sleep in a hotel bed and not in my home, where I get woken up at night. I totally get you, and in many ways that might be the season you're in and that's also okay. So you really want to be intentional and think about what is the purpose and my intention for this year's conference and really spend a few minutes to reflect on that, so that you then say, okay, these are the little goals and intentions I set for myself, so there will be, there's no right or wrong answer, and then plan accordingly.

Speaker 1: 14:23

And then, as it comes to the educational sessions and the abstracts, I usually look at the calendar ahead of time. Why do I do that? I want to get a big stroke idea what this year is let's say, ash Meetings is all about. There have been years where I was like, oh my gosh, there are so many amazing talks, I can hardly decide. This is going to be one of those. You're going to feel like you need to be three places at once. And then I have been at Ash Meetings where I'm like, why did I show up? I was glad to see my friends and there was a few talks here and there, but I didn't feel like I got the meat of the meeting because maybe the focus was just a little less relevant to me or it just felt like the quality wasn't quite as good, although the quality at Ash, I would say in general it's usually excellent. I don't want to bash it or say anything bad, it just was my perception.

Speaker 1: 15:19

And one key part of looking ahead at the schedule is also when are you going to arrive and when are you going to leave, because that impacts your hotel and your flight. So while I usually stay the larger chunk of the meeting, I also look especially on the last day. Is this really relevant to me and is it worthwhile for me to come home a day later to see my family a day later for one or two talks that are actually not that relevant or that are highly interesting or high yield to me, and I might have decided then to leave a day earlier. So you really want to look at that because it impacts your flight bookings and your hotel. So that's key. And then, in many ways, shortly before you arrive some people do it before they even leave you want to look at what sessions you want to attend specifically and maybe even make a calendar. Now, that might be important, especially if you are planning to meet other people and you have to find times at busy meetings. It can be very hard to find times when you can actually meet. So you want to look ahead and have a sense oh, I really don't want to miss this talk or this session. This is really relevant to my research project. But you also need to arrange meeting with collaborators, mentors, friends and those type of people. Well then, you really need to plan ahead and actually know what the calendar looks like. So that works. Especially, I would say, the more seasoned you are in your career, the more critical this will become, because there will be many people that you want to meet or that want to meet you and you make time and room for that. We're going to talk about that in a second.

Speaker 1: 17:18

Then you might say you know I don't really have time or interest to review the schedule like meaning line by line. What talks are there? What interests me that much ahead of time? This might be a perfect thing you do on your flight because, hey, you're sitting there anyway, you might as well be productive and not watch some movie. So that's just me. So you might do something that you could do to kind of make most out of that flight time or that waiting in the airport. So some people do it at that point, some people.

Speaker 1: 17:51

I have done that. I've all done all these versions. I have also, especially in the good old days, when you get the big book right with all the information I liked to look and I still do that to some degree Just like I plan my day for the next day and I look what's up, I would review the schedule for the next day. So oftentimes I would, you know, pick up my book from registration and flip through and see what I'm going to actually attend. So it works for different people in different ways.

Speaker 1: 18:22

It is dependent on what's your intention and what else are you planning to do besides going to the talks and the meetings, how you're going to plan it and how much you need to plan it ahead of time, so that's just their talks, and then there's obviously a poster sessions, and then you want to also set an intention who do I want to meet and who wants to meet with me? And that you need to be very intentional, especially if it is a large meeting. We often say, well, we're gonna see each other at the Ash meeting or whatever your meeting is. But guess what? Everybody's meeting gets so busy that if you are not intentional and you really wanna have some sit-down time versus just a wave in the hallway, that you want to plan that out, that you wanna schedule a time, and I know especially meeting with collaborators, mentors, networking, perhaps for job positions, any of those things, especially if it's not just the two of you but more people involved. You will have to find a space. Everything gets very crowded and loud.

Speaker 1: 19:30

You might need a conference room. You need to book that ahead of time. That really requires intentionality and planning and schedule coordination with the people that you meet, and I can tell you, with people that are more seasoned in their career, they are conference schedule Like what they do at Ash, and when they meet is often booked months in advance. So just to give you context, if you're new to this just realize it's not like as easy as a fellow or junior faculty. Hey, let's hang out at Ash and have a cup of coffee together. That works great.

Speaker 1: 20:10

If you meet with somebody that has a more compact schedule, this might be hard to squeeze in, sort of at Huck last minute. So just think about that ahead of time and then think where you actually want to meet. If you need a meeting room, especially if there's more of you, book that room. Your conference might have rooms available. Sometimes they are incredible expensive, so be mindful of that. But you can of course meet in hotel lobbies and restaurants. You do have to remember many restaurants when there is a large meeting meaning we're not talking a couple of hundred people like these cozy, cute meetings, but like large meetings with thousands and thousands of people restaurants are often taking over by private events.

Speaker 1: 21:00

You have to book, especially the good places. You have to book in advance and make a reservation. So be intentional for that, to know where you eat your dinner or where you meet people, and then coffee shops, the same. That's why it's helpful to know kind of the lay of the land, especially if you're new to a convention city, to kind of know the lay of the land, where things are, so that you can plan ahead. And then I have personally not needing to do this, but I have heard people do this, especially in the business world. People do this all the time. This can be very helpful if you have collaborative meetings, larger meetings, and you don't want to take up these conference rooms at hotels or the convention center that are hard to get and very expensive, especially if you need any AV equipment, even internet or something they charge your arm and legs for that.

Speaker 1: 21:56

You might wanna consider booking an Airbnb. Again, that will need some forward planning, but that can be helpful for a meeting in a hotel room. So if you have a more spacious room and is a bunch of collaborators sometimes you, if you need a quiet space, that could be a backup option. I know it could be a little weird and maybe you don't want people in your room. I never personally done this because it's kind of personal and I like my space but in a pinch. Or you could rent an hotel room if you have a lot of meetings, but again that becomes also very pricey. But Airbnb can be great if you have a larger group of people meeting. That will need preparation time, though, because these Airbnb's get booked as well.

Speaker 1: 22:43

So these were sort of the foundational tips to plan ahead, but I wanna give you a couple bonus tips, especially in terms of what to pack for a conference. Now, this is not my list of here's my 10 pair of shoes I am very simple Done other days when I walk on high heels through a ridiculously large conference center. I wanna be just comfortable. But I wanna give you a few tips, like what do you pack for? Your personal items is up to you Whether you need more than professional or convention kind of clothes, or maybe you need gym clothes or bathing suit if you wanna go swim, or something. That's totally up to you.

Speaker 1: 23:24

But what I wanna point out are things that you might not think about that are helpful to maybe think about. One is are there any books you're reading or you wanna be reading while you're away? Sometimes that can be a great time to catch up, either on the flight for reading either books for enjoyment, or maybe there's articles you wanna read, or maybe there are some personal development books you wanna read. I love reading books and I love them. Certainly when I'm traveling, I always tend to think I read more than I do, so I pack, sometimes multiple, and then I don't get through them. But be intentional, grab a book that you wanna read, and then what about any projects? Especially on your flight over there, you might have downtime that you could work on manuscripts, reading any projects related to work, or perhaps do them in your hotel room.

Speaker 1: 24:18

If your conference schedule isn't packed, there might be times you can sort of retreat a little bit and get some work done. And in fact you will hear many people say that again more seasoned. That's a time when they try to hide and get work done. Now if you just hide and never go to anything, then it's kind of like why did I go to this conference and paid all this money? But it can be a great way to set boundaries, retreat from your usual work environment. That alone can be a very good spark of creativity, of new ideas, of even productivity, if you are intentional with it and not get sacked in every social hour. Now, if you want to have just the social time, that's also great, because maybe you never do that at home. So whatever works for you.

Speaker 1: 25:07

And then the last is my super crazy bonus tip, and you can chuckle at this, but this has been a lifesaver. So I like good coffee. I also do not enjoy standing and coffee lines at large meetings for 30 minutes or I have to get up that ridiculously early to beat everybody else to the line. So a number of years back, I'm like screw that. I'm not going to stand in a stupid Starbucks line anymore or drink the conference. I cannot even drink the conference coffee that you can buy at the meeting halls. That is just outrageously disgusting and honestly, I really don't enjoy so much anymore the stuff you get for free at the exhibit, because sometimes I don't know they are not that great either.

Speaker 1: 26:00

So what did I do? Now I have an espresso machine at home. I have a couple, and one is a small pixie machine. So if you have a small espresso machine, I have packed those. Yes, I had to check my luggage for that. That did not go through as carry on, but it was a huge time and money saver because now I can enjoy my espresso in the morning while I was getting ready and I had a good quality cup of coffee. I did not have to stand in line. So it saved me time and money and it was very easy to carry on. I had that space because I don't pack 20 pair of shoes. I packed my espresso machine and people laughed at that. But I found actually another colleague who does that and I was like that is my girl, that is my lady, she gets me, she thinks like me and it's a huge time saver. And actually I was like, hey guys, if you want to come up for a cup of coffee, you know, come to my barista station. So that's just my silly pro tip. You can pack your own coffee machine or pack your own tea at least, because, again, the stuff in the hotel room is usually not that good. Some of them got a little better. There are some very good hotels, usually more expensive, that have an espresso machine, but most of them are sort of mediocre. So these are my tips.

Speaker 1: 27:22

So, logistics plan early what you want to achieve at the conference, what content meaning what lectures do you want to go to, and then who do you want to meet, and then some of the bonus tips. Now stay tuned for the next episode. We're going to talk about how to make most of your time there and make it actually a pleasant experience. So stay tuned for that. Talk to you next week and stay for after the promo. I want to share with you quickly how you can get on my holiday promotion list to get steep discounts on coaching retreats. I'm running as a special promover and a gift to you for the holiday season. So stay tuned for that, so you are on the know and talk to you soon.

Speaker 1: 28:05

With the holidays just around the corner, I want to let you in on an inside scoop and on some special deals for holiday season this year, in 2023. I know that most gurus tell us coaches and people don't want holiday promotions because your value isn't any less during the holidays, and that is true. My value doesn't go down or how I help people doesn't decrease in quality just because it's Christmas. But I love giving gifts and I love celebrating the holiday season and I love you. So for that reason, I decided to run a bunch of special holiday promotions and there will be surprises over Thanksgiving, black Friday, christmas, etc.

Speaker 1: 28:47

So if you want in on any of the details, you have to get on my email list so you actually hear about them. To do that, please go to inga-hoffmancom forward slash holidays 2023 to sign up Again. That is inga-hoffman-hoffmancom forward slash holidays 2023. I see you there and have a blessed holiday season. Thank you so much for listening to the Academic Revolution podcast today. If you have gotten value from today's episode, I would love for you to share it with your friends and colleagues and help create a movement that changes the future of academic medicine forever. Also, don't forget to follow me on Facebook, instagram or LinkedIn and visit inga-hoffmancom for more information on how to work with me. Links are in the show notes. Until then, be well and see you on the next episode of the Academic Revolution podcast.