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When Your Presentation Goes Awry
Call me paranoid or call me prepared, but I go through a ritual every time I’m scheduled to present at a conference. I begin by saving copies of my presentation onto two different thumb drives. One...
View ArticleThe Work Behind the Network
We all know someone who is so socially engaging that even her small talk seems intimate and insightful, someone whose small talk—when we think back on the conversation later—isn’t really so small after...
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Saying Goodbye to What’s No Longer Working
For more than five years, “Business Meeting” has appeared on my calendar every other Wednesday night. This regular meeting, with rather strict attendance expectations, brought together colleagues with...
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Conferences as Crossroads
Early in my career, I thought of academic conferences as being primarily about scholarship. I was so proud to have that first paper accepted for presentation, as I felt like a genuine member of my...
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Please Stow All Electronic Devices
I always groan a little when a flight attendant instructs passengers to stow all electronic devices. I usually scramble to check one last message or type one final sentence, and more than once I have...
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How to Be a Better Host
A few weeks ago I traveled to another state for a half-day workshop. Well in advance of my visit, I was promised reimbursement for all of my travel expenses. I received no guidance about where to stay...
View ArticleThank You for That Kind Introduction
I was very excited about attending a professional meeting recently, as one of the key attractions was to be a session with a big-name guy who is notable, prominent, and controversial. My colleagues...
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Sometimes It Is Whom You Know
Academics are notoriously bad at what other professionals call “networking.” That’s partly because we tend to be loners and introverts by nature. The whole idea behind networking—meeting people just to...
View ArticleA New Way to Look at Networking
In some of the career-development workshops I offer, I ask attendees to give me their business cards. I choose one card randomly and ask the owner to raise his or her hand. Then I walk over, look the...
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How to Stand Out From a Crowd
Contrary to popular belief, there is no cohort of monks guarding the secret scroll of candidates on short lists in job searches. In this digital age, however, it can be both harder and easier to get...
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What Could Be Better Than Swag?
A librarian friend of mine returned from BookExpo America with a dozen books for me—advance-reader copies, free, of upcoming releases. My summer has been immeasurably improved by such a delightful...
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The Company We Keep
Diane Fennig’s recent post about the importance of creating a digital signature prompted me to consider the ways in which our LinkedIn connections influence the way people perceive us. Do people with...
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Conference Guilt
Each year there are three large national gatherings for community-college professionals: the League for Innovation conference, the American Association of Community Colleges convention, and the...
View ArticleA Sense of Camaraderie
November can be a long month for academic job seekers, perhaps the time when academe seems coldest. With several fields holding their national conferences shortly after the holidays, many applicants...
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