Conferences (and similar events) offer great opportunities for professional development and to connect with industry colleagues and pioneers. It is exciting that interpreters, trainers, and administrators have a growing number of local, regional and national conferences from which to choose to fuel and inspire their own professional growth. However, with this increased opportunity comes an increase in conflict with attending various conferences. There’s the Scheduling Conflict, the Budget Conflict and the I-Still-Need-Time-to-Do-My-Job Conflict just to name a few.
As of this posting, I can readily name five events that I’d love to attend but will not due to a variety of the aforementioned Conflicts. I know that I’m not alone in this predicament, so I’m happy to share this blog post from David Kelly on How to Learn from a Conference You Aren’t Attending in which he gives advice on using Twitter as a way to tap into the event from afar. Although it doesn’t replace the richness of attending the event, it is a viable way to stay engaged with the important goings-on in the industries that drive your professional practice.
As for me, all I have to do is master Twitter, which should be quite a bit easier than mastering the art of bilocation and winning the lottery.