Some of you New Investigators have heard by now whether the Scientific Program committee has accepted
your work as a poster, or perhaps, even as an oral. Meanwhile, the conference date comes closer and the ISOQOL website is updating conference information on a regular basis. For some, this will be their first ISOQOL experience. For others, the conference has by now become about catching up with colleagues and friends from abroad. In any case, regardless of experience, attending an ISOQOL conference can be daunting, especially since the number of conference attendees is getting higher each year. Hence, we want to use this issue of Quality of Life Quarterly to provide some tips and tricks that could help you have a fruitful and pleasant stay at beautiful Berlin, Germany.
• Prepare your conference schedule carefully – look up the symposia and presentations you would like to attend, people you wish to meet, and workshops you want to follow.
• Get to know other new investigators – not only will you learn more about their research, but you may also learn more about the conference, its attendees, and which bars you need to visit.
• Come to the Tricks of the Trade symposium – Galina Velikova, MD, PhD, FRCP (current president of ISOQOL) and Carolyn Schwartz, PhD will share with you their road to success and will make time to answer some of your questions.
• Get yourself a mentor during the Mentor/Mentee reception – it is by far the easiest and most straightforward way of asking a senior researcher about your research, doing research, being a researcher, and getting the most out of your conference stay.
• When presenting a poster – don’t forget to bring handouts. In addition, make sure that everybody can clearly see who you are, where you are from, and how to contact you.
• Oral presentations are exciting. But they are never SO exciting that they need to become stressful to be successful. So enjoy it. And make sure those in the back can see and hear what you are talking about.
• Always wanted to meet that famed professor or that leading authority on your PhD subject? Go ahead and introduce yourself! Most of the time, these senior researchers are just as interested in you as you are in them.
• Make sure you get involved with a Special Interest Group (SIG) of your liking – chances are you will meet many new people, and these contacts often form longlasting collaborations or even friendships.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions! It is a great way of getting involved during the conference.
• Remember – conference attendees are here to learn about new research and meet new people, so do not hesitate to approach people.
• Last but not least – have fun!
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