We all know the saying “don’t bite off more than you can chew…” Well then don’t; present a poster at the SIGUCCS Conference instead! That is right, presenting a poster at SIGUCCS is a great way to bite off just enough so you will not feel overwhelmed. An added bonus is it gives you a taste of what it is like to present at a conference. That’s right, kill two birds with one little stone.
When I first started going to SIGUCCS, I knew there was no way anyone was going to get me to do ANY kind of presentation. Why you ask? Well, I’m terrified of public speaking (my friends would probably not believe this, but it’s true) and what time do I have between work, grad school and sleeping?!? I was just too busy to write another paper. But after going to a few conferences I realized a poster presentation was not like your standard, stand in front of a silent room with all eyes on you and just talk, presentation. Nope! The attention is not all on you. Phew, the relief in knowing I was not the only one people would be paying attention to was a huge weight off my shoulders. Additionally, I found out the paper only had to be at least two pages. Again, PHEW!! I can handle writing a quick two-page paper over the course of three months with the help of my peers to edit and give feedback. The last little icing on the cake was getting PUBLISHED. Now, I will not lead you astray, being a published writer was never on my life bucket list. But in a few short months, a paper I wrote about a topic of my choice was going to be published, and that is pretty awesome.
Still not convinced presenting a poster at SIGUCCS is right for you? Let me break it down into 7 easy steps:
- Choose a Topic – what are you interested in? What about your work do you always love to talk about and share with people?
- Write a short Abstract – quick summary of what your topic is about. Just a quick 200 work paragraph
- Write a 2 to 4-page paper – a topic you are interested in and love will sometime make it hard to keep it to just 4 pages! Gush about you and your teams’ accomplishments. For real, humblebrag as much as you want!
- Peer Editing – you do not even have to edit your own paper, your peers do it for you! So easy and use them as sound boards to hone your ideas.
- GET PUBLISHED – Brag all you want to your friends and family, for real. DO IT.
- Design a poster – Use your creative side and design a poster about your paper.
- Present your Poster at SIGUCCS! – Talk to your peers in a low pressure, friendly environment with your higher education peers.
At the end of the day, presenting a poster at SIGUCCS is a great way to get a taste of presenting at a conference. From start to finish you get to work with your peers, share your accomplishments (and maybe some failures), publish a paper and present at a conference. In the few years I’ve attended SIGUCCS, I published a few papers, overcome most of my public speaking fears and met so many more lifelong friends.
~ Melissa Doernte
Submit a proposal to present at SIGUCCS 2019 by March 8. More at: https://siguccs.org/Conference/2019/call-for-proposals/