Prologe
I had heard about the Transforming Care Conference already in November last year but never really thought about attending right before the deadline for abstract submission in January. As I was still in my peak phase of writing together my thesis’ findings, I did not have much time to spend on the abstract and just wrote down what I had in mind. Coming as a surprise to me, it worked. My paper actually was accepted and would go to England to my first academic conference.
Day 1 - Monday
Just got up, had breakfast and am now about to leave for the conference. This is my first one ever. Kinda excited but I think I will be fine. I am thinking about what to wear, probably will settle for semi-formal - can never go wrong with that. I finished by presentation yesterday after arriving in Sheffield by train, it was quite a nice trip here. Had a pint in a pub, enjoyed people talking in their most lovely British dialect (or the local dialect, I actually have no idea, but it sounds fabulous :). Hoping to meet some nice people and figure out, how such conferences work - that’s the reason I’m actually here. So, I just came back. What a day. I am exhausted but it was actually quite nice. After I got there I stood around for a minute and then just went to the first person I saw also sitting alone. And we started talking. He was really kind, we had lunch together and from there on I just snowballed my way through new connections. There are really lovely people attending the conference. Everyone is really open and as eager to get to know people around them. I did not feel a special need to network, so we just chatted and got to know each other and our interests. I attended a really thought-provoking (used quite often there) panel were we stayed to talk for a bit. In the evening, there was an early career get-together which I enjoyed quite a lot. Actually talking to people in their PhDs is a nice experience and really shows how they too, as normal people, have and had their problems and dealt with them. It stays true. Talking to others helps so much.
Day 2 - Tuesday
I slept quite well, but still a bit exhausted. I am not too stressed, went through my presentation again yesterday evening and now feel prepared. I am most afraid of the questions I get, so I think I might read through my thesis, the basis for my paper, again to recall all the information. That’s most probably unnecessary, but i will feel better after reading it. I slept too long, so there is not real time to have breakfast. Anyhow, I am not really into breakfasts too, so that’s fine. It was awesome. I really enjoyed today. Though it was a long day. First, had one ok-isch and one really interesting panel - again about care and surveillance. Then I felt quite tired and thought about going back to the hotel for a nap after lunch. However, I met cool people while queuing and we talked for so long. Surprisingly, this gave me quite some energy back, and after skimming through my thesis, I felt prepared for the presentation. And it went well. I could say what I had prepared and felt like getting the general idea of my paper across to the other researchers in the room. They had quite some questions and nice comments about it. Though I did not understand all questions immediately, I have thought about them since and what I would have responded to them. Unfortunately, the opportunity to respond is now gone, but I can use their questions in remarks anyways :) I did not join the dinner, as it was quite expensive and I did not feel like spending so much fancy money to network. Anyways, others thought so too and we headed out for some pints in a pub. This was such a cool experience to get to know them. PhD students with so much experience to learn from and ginuently lovely people. I hope to meet them again in the future. Anyways, I am quite exhausted now…
Day 3 - Wednesday
Slept to little - feel quite tired. The feeling did not go away throughout the day. The last panel session was nice, although I felt already quite full. Three days of conference are quite a thing. Two people actually came to me and told me that that found my presentation quite interesting - couldn’t ask for a better boost of energy :D After lunch, I took the train to London and then over the channel home. I am thinking out publishing this short diary online, maybe over the weekend - let’s see.
Day X - The week after
Still haven’t published the blog article. Maybe need to to it today evening or tomorrow. tbs
Day Y - Still months later
I do not know what held me back, but better late then never - today I publish this. For the future, I really have to just put the stuff I write actually online. It does not seem that difficult…but it is :D