How industry conferences differ from academic events
I was talking to a fab early stage researcher about the benefits of giving talks and they responded with “not enough time” and “I’m not good enough” 😥. One of the big things that came through was the difference between conference types.
In academia, you typically write a paper and submit it for a presentation at a conference. You pay the conference organiser to publish your paper and present to your peers on your research topic. From my perspective, this about solidifying your research in the community.
In industry, you submit a paragraph or two on a topic you want to present on. Usually the conference organiser gives you free entry to the event or may even pay you, and you present to people broadly related to your topic of interest. From my perspective, this is about helping others learn what you know.
Not enough time
The upfront overhead of a talk in academia gives rise to “not enough time” because ZOMG peeps — papers take tons of effort to write! The fact that you’re competing for publication and doing it to demonstrate competency triggers imposter syndrome in so many young researchers, particularly women or under-represented minorities.
The usual “Call for papers” or “Call for speakers” process is named the same thing in industry and academic conferences but is actually a very different process. A CFP for industry, as I said earlier, is much lighter for the session submitter and indeed, I usually write a session overview about what I’d like to talk about and then and write the presentation once the talk has been accepted. This means you test out your session concepts at lots of online events and local meetups, lowering the cost of getting into presenting.
Not good enough
The great thing about industry conferences is that you’re there to inspire and teach. Talk about something you’re passionate about and help others see why they should invest time in it, making it easier for them to get started than it was for you.
The person who was recently a beginner or comes from outside the field brings tremendous capability in reducing the learning effort for others. They can communicate to learners who need to grow a framework for a new topic as they’ve done it themselves and remember the pitfalls.
So please share this with your academic friends! Encourage them to start finding industry conferences they can share their passion at.
