After a year of preparation and three happy days full of landscape research, ILANSCO24 is already history. In this article, I am going to share some insights from our event that will help you organizing your own scientific conference.
1 Everything starts with an idea
There are already many great established conference series out there which cover a large variety of topics. However, if you have an original idea or if you have the feeling that there is no good conference on a particular topic in your area of the world, it is likely that you will meet an audience. During my PhD, I co-organized a conference with the provocative title „Sex, Death and Politics – Taboos in Language“ which also yielded a nice publication. Although the topic seemed peripheral to us, we dared to launch a call for papers. And after a short while we received many nice submissions from scholars from all over the world. This showed me that no matter how much of a niche topic you are interested in, most likely there are others who share your special interest.
For ILANSCO24, a conference on „Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Landscapes in Language, Society and Cognition,“ I was sure that many scholars would respond. The topic is broader, but we were convinced that the combination of interdisciplinary perspectives is original enough to justify a new conference. Finding a good and original topic is crucial to attract collaborators, helpers and funding (see Step 2). At the same time, only spreading the word through multiple channels and using your network to this end will get your idea the necessary attention – no matter how original (see Step 4).
2 A little help from your friends
You will need some sort of institutional support to organize a conference. Asking your supervisor or institute for support will be more successful if your are not alone. It is a good idea to ask fellow PhD students, postdocs or whoever might be interested to take part in the organisation. A core team of 3-5 people seems ideal to me. It is also nice to involve a supervisor or someone who is more experienced and can help to solve bureaucratic issues, e.g. They can take on the role of an advisor or be part of the scientific commitee.
Reaching out for financial support will also be easier as a team because more people will have more diverse resources. For ILANSCO we were able to acquire funding from UZH alumni, UZH graduate campus and the city of Zurich besides our institutes. Most likely there will be similar funding possibilities at your local university. Potentially, you can reach out to any organization or company to become a sponsor – there is some room for creativity.
3 Time and space
Unless you are planning an online event, you need to select a place where you can meet with a group of people. Usually, universities are a good choice because you will find the necessary infrastructure for scientific conferences there. Other places might also be eligible if you are connected to certain associations which have conference venues at their disposal. In fact, it may also be possible to apply for funding to access certain venues that are at your university’s disposal. If you are not aware of many options, just ask your colleagues.
Choosing the right moment for your event depends on the location. For example, your university might not be able to provide you space during the semester when most rooms are already booked. Popular venues might also be booked early. Think about the audience you want to attract and make sure to avoid time slots when events take place that are relevant to your audience.
4 Spread the word
Linguistlist is a great resource for publishing calls of papers, but it is also very broad and impersonal. Personal contacts are more likely to help you get the attention and attract the participants that your event deserves. However, letting your friends know about your plans and asking them to spread the word is not enough.
Advertising your event is a great opportunity to expand your network. When you look for relevant institutions and networks who could be interested in your topic you will come accross interesting people and their projects. That’s why you should allocate enough time for advertising and make an effort to browse the internet for some time. Write a number of emails to mailinglists and contacts who can share the news with relevant communities.
Patience and rewards
Organising a conference can be very rewarding and motivating. After ILANSCO, several participants told us that they were „still riding the ILANSCO wave.“ We also felt encouraged by the personal encounters with many friendly people who are interested in similar research topics. Giving them room to discuss their ideas in a friendly atmosphere was very satisfying.
Organising a conference will take a long time (most likely about a year) and there will be ups and downs. However, if you have an idea and are eager to meet like-minded, there is no good reason to hesitate.