Without a doubt, one of the top reasons we attend conferences is to strengthen and expand our professional networks. The many opportunities that a conference provides to meet and interact with colleagues and friends old and new make the jet lag and hassle of travel worthwhile, mostly. The Plant Biology meeting is a big meeting that attracts more than 1000 participants, and the conference organizers are always trying to find ways to make sure that you’ll have the opportunity to meet people with shared interests.
At the Plant Biology conference in Austin this year, one of the many ways we’re providing networking opportunities for you is through “Birds of a Feather” tables in the main social / poster / exhibit area. These tables provide nucleating sites for people with common interests to meet informally.
The 12 table topics include:
- Development
- Metabolism
- Abiotic interactions
- Biotic interactions
- Cell biology
- Genomics
- Education and outreach
- Industry
- Grants and Funding
- Global perspectives in science policy
- Work – life balance
- Social media / science communication
During the coffee breaks, lunches and poster sessions, we invite you to drop by a table and mingle with other conference attendees. As an incentive, we also invite you to drop a business card into the box found on each of the tables. At lunchtime on Tuesday July 12th we’ll draw one name out of each box and the winners will each receive a Plantae t-shirt.
If you can’t make it to the Plant Biology meeting this year, don’t despair. We’re also setting up groups for each of these 12 topics on Plantae, and we invite you do join up to do a little networking and socializing from wherever you are.