If you’ve been following this series, you might be at the point where you are ready to submit your work. However, you also might find yourself now wondering: Who do I send this to? How do I know where to find them? Who’s want to listen? There is not a simple or comprehensive answer to this question. However, this post will hopefully provide you with some ways you might find a conference suitable to your field of interest.
Here is a list of place you might begin to look:
- List Serves: These are email chains you subscribe to that give you information on possible publication opportunities, conferences, job listings, and more.
- Professors/Mentors: Those around you are invaluable resources and often have experiential knowledge to share with you.
- Departmental Emails
- Major Associations and Organization of your field: For example, NCPTW is the National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing and holds an annual conference for all things Peer Writing.
Our fearless leader and Director at the UCWbL, Dr. Lauri Dietz offers some advice: start by asking your professors or mentors in the field what the main organizations and conferences are. Dietz has mentored and influenced me to produce and share work with those in my fields of interest. It is important to find people in your program you look up to and have a rapport. Ask questions about the field so that you can find your place within the academic community of your field.
While finding conferences isn’t the easiest task, it is an important one in becoming a voice in the ever-changing conversation of your discourse communities. With the right help, you can be as influential as you want to be. I will leave you with these wise words from Stephen King: “You can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”