The first quarter of the new board’s term has been interesting. A lot has changed, and a lot has remained the same.
2020 2021Conference
As conference planning for March 2021 continued, the public health situation with COVID-19 showed signs of worsening. The board had another major decision to make. The decision to go virtual for 2021 did not come easily. We understand how much the success of our conference relies on networking and being together in person. We also understand that trying to attend virtual events while working a regular day will not be stress-free or uninterrupted. That being said, we want to acknowledge the people that have put work into presentations and give them a chance to be published in 2021. Planning for this virtual event is underway and we hope that you can join us!
Community
In order to maintain the community that is SIGUCCS, we have initiated a series of hangouts. These occur monthly, and we started in September. The topic in September was remote work and its advantages and disadvantages. In October, we went with a Halloween theme and shared Scary Support Stories. Each time we have had a great group of SIGUCCS friends join us. We’ll have another in November and again in December and we hope more of you will join us for those!
Webinars/Seminars
Another way that we are planning to keep SIGUCCS together is through a seminar series, starting in November. Register now for the November 10 topic: Life Beyond the Lab. This session will feature short presentations about topics associated with moving from worker bee to manager and include time for questions and discussion. (https://siguccs.org/wp/seminar-series/)
Awards
There is still time to nominate a SIGUCCS colleague for a Penny Crane or Hall of Fame award for 2021. Visit https://siguccs.org/wp/participate/siguccs-awards/ to learn more or make a nomination. The nomination period ends December 1.
Mentoring
Finally, our mentoring program will be starting up again in January, so if you are interested, take a look at our site to learn more (https://siguccs.org/wp/learn/mentoring-program/). We are looking for both mentors and mentees to join the program that will run January 2021 – November 2021. Applications are open now!