Valuable spaces for sharing outputs and findings
Promoting your research outputs at conferences is an important way of drawing attention to your work. Conferences are extremely valuable for bringing your latest results to the attention of the research community, developing your network and finding future collaborators.
Remember that the conference has an online presence as well as a physical one, so be sure to use that stage as well as the real-life venue. It has a potentially much bigger audience, often including journalists and influential subject experts, who could help raise the profile of your research and draw the attention of potential collaborators. Using social media to complement and amplify your conference appearances can vastly enhance the reach of your presentations, maximising the effort and investment involved in participating in these events.
Make the most of academic conferences
There's plenty to think about when planning on attending a conference. Which conference is best for me to attend? Which session should I present at? Can I organise a special session? Can I host my own event? How do I use my time at a conference? How do I expand my network at the event? How do I communicate my work to best effect? Here are a few guides that might help (and you can find plenty more with a quick online search):
- (opens in a new window)Identifying and choosing research conferences to attend – University of Phoenix
If you’ve taken an engaged research approach, consider inviting your community partner(s) to co-present with you (and to use their social media channels in support). Having an alternative perspective can be highly engaging and help academic audiences better understand the context and potential impact of your research.
Amplifying your conference activity online
- Post about your conference activity on social media, especially on Twitter, remembering to use conference hashtags and handles to gain the benefit of their audiences. Include your (opens in a new window)Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) to draw attention to your own research, and use Altmetrics to track attention to your research outputs on the social media platforms you use.
- Connect with delegates on social networks. Engage them in discussion about topics raised at the conference and invite them to visit your website, blog or online profile. Using the Direct Message function of social platforms like Twitter can be a good way to arrange in-person meetings with delegates that you first interact with online.
- Consider making your conference presentations available online, on websites such as (opens in a new window)SlideShare, and share the link to your presentation via Twitter and other channels.
- Consider making any recordings available on YouTube or (opens in a new window)Vimeo. YouTube is the world’s second most visited social network site: more than a billion people use it every month.