Networking and NCUIRE
I had a great time at the NCUIRE research symposium. I presented a poster for one of my classes and was able to talk to a couple of people about the research I conducted with a fellow group of students. I feel in my element when presentations are more like a conversation. I enjoy the natural flow of questions and answers. It is harder to present with no interaction. It is also hard for me to cold call or email a stranger. I feel like my contact might not be wanted or appreciated. Something I want to be better at is sealing the deal at the end. Meaning, after the connection has been made, setting up the next point of contact. An email address or some sort of future follow up that can happen to take the contact from a one time occurrence to a relationship. For example, at the symposium, one of the judges began to discuss how his own research was very similar to what we were presenting. While interesting, I didn't press the conversation further. In hindsight, the opportunity was the