Collective action: Reflecting on organising the 2022 WIAS annual conference

Why did you decide to join the committee? 

It offered a nice opportunity to meet people and it was fun to work together with PhDs of other research groups. Some of the committee had attended other conferences and were curious to see how a conference is organised. 

The theme of the conference was ‘Collective Action’. How did you come up with this?  

There was a lot of freedom to decide on the theme of the conference and we discussed a large variety of topics including ‘collaboration’. We wanted a topic which would bring the people of WIAS together. At that time the Glasgow COP 26th was happening. One of the initiatives was called OneStepGreener and as we read the description the words ‘Collective Action’ jumped out at us. To relate this to the research done at ASG and we developed subthemes based on the categories of ASG. Each subtheme then started with the word ‘together’ to convey the message that although we work on different things, collaboration and solidarity are central to a more prosperous and vivid research group.   

What were some of the challenges? 

Only some of us had the experience of going to a conference. None of us had experience in planning one so it was a steep learning curve. We started off meeting online as a committee, but it was really important to meet in person. This allowed us to get to know each other better and to become a group. 

Previous organisers had left us a checklist, but it remained a challenge to know in which order to organise the different parts. Finding keynote speakers was a challenge, but with the help of supervisors we managed and the two keynote speakers who agreed to attend were extremely nice. We also had to deal with uncertainty related to COVID-19. Until a few weeks before the actual conference we didn’t know if it was going to be in person or online. Once it was confirmed that the conference could take place in person COVID-19 still meant that some people had to cancel last minute. This had an effect on the day, but we managed. Hopefully next year’s committee will not have to deal with this level of uncertainty. 

We had a long meeting the day before the actual conference and did a dry run, but the day itself was still very stressful. Things could still go wrong. We got lots of help from the WIAS office, which took some of the pressure off and in the end the conference went very well.  

Looking back, how did you feel it all went?  

Very good. Not bad. 9 out of 10...? The beginning was a bit chaotic but, in the end, everything worked out. We are very happy that the things we worried about went smoothly: The opening speech and the interactive quiz, the schedule, the online keynote speech from Marion and the closing session.   

Finally, what is your advice for next year’s organising committee? 

It will be good to start earlier as the attendees might have different expectations compared to this year. Better advertisement and more communication will help. And finally plan in time for the activities afterwards, including collecting feedback and organising photo’s. 

What is the animal you work with? Word cloud from the WAC 2022

Coffee break and networking during the WAC 2022