Thing 15: Attending, presenting at and organising seminars, conferences and other events

Attending: This is the easy part. I try and attend as many events as possible. I am a member of my local CILIP committee and I attend a lot of events organised through this as I feel it is important to set a good example. I also try and learn something along the way, like the E-book session I attended last year where I found out that a high proportion of Arts and Humanities students use E-books at one particular academic library. I think there is potential for informal and unexpected learning at these events sometimes, you can pick up information from people you network with at breaktimes and can certainly make contacts.

One thing I have not attended yet is a conference. This is just something that I have never got round to doing. At the moment, my workplace would not fund this as money is scarce also, I would feel guilty for taking the time off as we have lost some staff and have not got them replaced. So, if I went to a conference at the moment, it would have to be on my own time and money which I really do not want to do as both are precious to me in order to keep a work/life balance. I love my job but I do need to have a life outside it.

Speaking: This again is something that I have not got round to doing. I am quite a shy person, although as time goes by I am managing this better, so the idea of speaking at a conference or event for any length of time scares me. Also, the fact of presenting in front of my peers, some of whom may have 20 years worth of experience on me feels quite daunting. I can manage speaking in front of undergraduates, as they are still getting over last night's hangover and the shock that they are at university and have to do some work now.

Organising: This is something that I have a little experience of, I have organised events for my local CILIP committee. I am going to organise their christmas quiz for the third year in a row this year. I also organised a trip to Winchester Cathedral last year. I do enjoy it, even if the organising can be a bit of a headache. I feel that it builds up my confidence and I get to meet people that I would not normally meet. The fact that I am organising an event means I have to put myself 'out there' and cannot lurk in the background as I normally do. The only thing I would say about organising events is be wary of certain times of the year. My trip to the cathedral was literally this time last year and, in hindsight, I would not have organised a trip so near to the bank holiday as a lot of people then dropped out the week before and I think this may have been a contributing factor.