February 22, 2016 – The 38th SSP Annual Meeting will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, June 1 to 3, 2016, with registration opening in early March. Here are some tips for convincing your organization to send you packing (in a good way!).
- Create a budget and detail your proposed travel expenses. Attendees from outside Canada should note that many currencies go a long way in Canada right now–rooms at the conference hotel start at $199 CAD (~$143 USD) and include free internet. And the registration fee includes breakfast and lunch each day of the conference.
- Offer to seek out information. What can your company gain by sending you to the meeting? Could you meet with vendors in the exhibit hall and gather information about new products? Could you bring back market knowledge by attending the event’s roundtables with librarians, researchers and administrators? What could you learn by reaching out to an attendee in a role similar to yours at another organization?
- Share the wealth. When you get back from the trip, you could share your takeaways from the conference over lunch with colleagues or at a staff meeting. You might also take detailed notes and distribute them.
- Present information about the sessions you hope to attend. This year’s conference has an excellent program selected from a record number of submissions. Tracks include publishing careers, market insight, global challenges, collaborative solutions, product strategy and business development, and standards and best practices. Dr. David Suzuki, television host and environmental activist, and Dr. Margaret-Ann Armour, distinguished scientist and champion for increasing the number of women in science, will be the keynote speakers. Session descriptions and speaker information will be available on the SSP website in early March.
If you’re in the first three years of your career, you might also check out the SSP’s Fellowship Program, which includes a travel stipend and mentorship opportunities, among other things. Applications are due March 1. And if Vancouver just isn’t in the cards this year, we hope you’ll consider attending next year’s meeting, or one of the many webinars and seminars held throughout the year.
Stay tuned for an upcoming post highlighting the many things to do in Vancouver outside of the conference.
By Jocelyn Dawson, SSP Board Member at Large
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