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 there for me to ask if he would like to connect with our group to discuss further research opportunities that might arise in the future. The worst that could happen is for the person to reject the offer and go on their way.

I also enjoyed viewing the posters of others and asking questions to help me to understand their research better. Some of the research presented was quite fascinating! It would have been natural for those conversations to lead into requests for virtual or future connections. I really feel that the atmosphere at the symposium was very conducive to making connections. It is easy to see how attending such events could be very helpful in building a network. I think virtual networking is more difficult initially, but a great tool to use in conjunction with in person connections.