A show of hands: Does anyone else feel a bit conflicted about virtual work? On one hand, I love that my home is close to my yoga studio, and I can finally make their 5:15 pm classes. But I do miss connecting with my colleagues daily in a physical office. And now that I am in the role of mentor at my organization, I see how the lack of daily interaction can hinder the development and "visibility" of my younger employees. That’s why industry events like CESSE’s ACCESSE Leadership Conference are more important than ever.
I attended my first ACCESSE last year in Detroit, MI. While initially, I thought my excitement was from attending my first post-pandemic industry event, I quickly realized my excitement was an immediate sense of belonging and feeling understood by my peers in attendance. I've attended other association-focused events but being amongst the scientific community [at ACCESSE] felt different. They understood the challenges of running an international organization, the challenges of running a large organization, and the challenges of non-commerciality in an increasingly commercial world. The list goes on.
Moreover, the diversity of session tracks was refreshing. I found interesting content on marketing, multimedia publishing, technologies, and leadership—topics I might have had to attend multiple events to hear about. I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend ACCESSE by a dear friend who asked me to speak at one of the sessions. She encouraged me to get more involved with CESSE, so I accepted the invitation and became a member.
Additionally, while I’m not someone who shies away from the limelight, I realized attending ACCESSE that I have not spent enough time developing and nurturing my professional network. I met so many people that I realized I probably should have known by this point in my career. But I pushed the embarrassment aside and focused on how I was demonstrating my knowledge and expertise to this important community. I thought about what a great opportunity this would have been for me earlier in my career.
For any coordinator, specialist, or manager who thinks your boss wouldn’t approve your ACCESSE attendance, I encourage you to talk to your boss about how these connections can help your organization. I contend that, as the world continues to change rapidly, the only way we can sustain our collective impact on the world is to collaborate and gain new insights and strategies to evolve.
Lastly, I’ve kept in touch with many people that I met last year, and we’re continuing to discuss current STEM society topics. For example, we’ve noticed the publishing world is already starting to experience the positive and negative effects of AI and large language models (LLMs). Discovering how other scientific associations are preparing, and in some cases, monetizing their content for LLMs has been extremely helpful to my organization.