Here are a few important guidelines for attending a student conference:
- Please dress professionally.
- Arrive before the start of your session to be prepared. Speakers should have their presentations on a thumb drive and should load their presentations on the computer before the hour session starts. It is also wise to have a copy waiting for you in email, just in case.
- Never walk in on speakers while they are talking (unless they have asked you to). Everyone is very nervous and an interruption is nerve-rattling.
- Similarly, please don’t walk out on a speaker who is talking. If you need to leave quickly to make another session, you may duck out at questions.
- Be sensitive to the feelings of speakers. Try not to leave a speaker with no audience or a poster or exhibit presenter standing alone. If you come only to present your own work and then leave, you miss the point of a conference. Be the audience you hope to have!
- Ask questions! And don’t be afraid if you do not know an answer to a question you are asked. It’s okay to say that you do not know.
- Do not exceed the time you have to speak in an oral presentation; you will be stopped to keep the conference on time.
- Be prepared to attend you poster or exhibit for the full time designated.
- Practice a lot!