Organisations and learned societies - Memberships?

challengemaster

As far as I know, this hasn't been discussed on here before...

As with anything, this will probably vary quite a bit depending on discipline and even location - but the general question still applies:

Which organisations/societies (if any) do you feel are essential to be a member of for your discipline? How do you decide which ones are worthwhile becoming a member of?

And what benefits are actually worthwhile looking for?

Black Swan

challengemaster wrote: »

As with anything, this will probably vary quite a bit depending on discipline and even location - but the general question still applies:

Which organisations/societies (if any) do you feel are essential to be a member of for your discipline? How do you decide which ones are worthwhile becoming a member of?

And what benefits are actually worthwhile looking for?

Good idea.
How about if you start us off? "Which organisations/societies (if any) do you feel are essential to be a member of for your discipline?"

challengemaster

Black Swan wrote: »

Good idea.
How about if you start us off?

I would, but there's a good reason I'm asking without answering first

Currently not a member of any myself. For some reason, it seems to be one of those things that's never mentioned and never pointed out by the academic hierarchy when you specialise. It's just sort of a "figure it out yourself" attitude.

There also doesn't seem to be a comprehensive list of them anywhere based on speciality (that I can find).

djpbarry

My primary degree is electronic engineering, so I'm a member of the IEEE. But if I'm honest, that's just so I can access journal articles in their online library. I work in a cell biology lab these days and most of the people in here are affiliated with different cell science societies, but as far as I'm aware, people have only signed up to get discounted rates for conference attendance.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. If you can't think of a good reason to hand over your cash to become a member of one of these societies, then don't. It's not like it adds a whole lot to your CV or anything.

Black Swan

Association: IASS (International Association of Survey Statisticians)
Journal: The Survey Statistician
Next Conference: 60th World Statistics Congress of the ISI, July 2015, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Association: AACE (Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education)
Journal: Journal of Interactive Learning Research.
Next Conference: Global Conference on Learning and Technology, April 2015, Berlin, Germany.

Event: GDC (Game Developers Conference), March 2015, San Francisco, CA, USA.

Greatest benefit: Network, network, network!

Ostrom

Black Swan wrote: »

Greatest benefit: Network, network, network!

I've come to really despise this. The newest 'fad' is to schedule designated networking time into the programme. It drains all spontaneity and meaning from conversations. Next time I might list my research interests, recent co-authors, and publication ranks on my name badge to avoid the banalities.

Black Swan

Ostrom wrote: »

I've come to really despise this. The newest 'fad' is to schedule designated networking time into the programme. It drains all spontaneity and meaning from conversations. Next time I might list my research interests, recent co-authors, and publication ranks on my name badge to avoid the banalities.

I agree with your observation that "spontaneity and meaning from conversations" may be lost with the "newest 'fad' ...to schedule designated networking time into the programme." Networking that I referenced occurs without need for such conference scheduled meetings. Networking always has, and always will occur whenever two or more persons sharing a research interest get together at a conference or other venue.

ancapailldorcha

Out of curiosity, would the membership fee be something you'd normally pay yourself or something you could claim against your grant? I submitted an abstract for a meeting and it was accepted. The fees are exuberant for non-members so my boss wants me to join which is fair enough and I think he expects me to pay the registration fee as well which is a few hundred pounds.

Ostrom

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

Out of curiosity, would the membership fee be something you'd normally pay yourself or something you could claim against your grant? I submitted an abstract for a meeting and it was accepted. The fees are exuberant for non-members so my boss wants me to join which is fair enough and I think he expects me to pay the registration fee as well which is a few hundred pounds.

Do you have a travel allowance on your grant? Usually funders (assuming IRC) don't cover professional membership, but since membership is now often a condition of conference entry, you can sometimes 'sneak it in' as a combined conference fee.

@blackswan

I'm all for conversations - one of the best things about specific conferences and sessions is meeting friends and those with shared interests. However, this wasn't always 'networking' - it was just part of your normal working life. Now it is a specific concept/strategy/tactic, and the ridiculous formalising of it as a calculation to further your career is awful.

Black Swan

Ostrom wrote: »

I'm all for conversations - one of the best things about specific conferences and sessions is meeting friends and those with shared interests. However, this wasn't always 'networking' - it was just part of your normal working life. Now it is a specific concept/strategy/tactic, and the ridiculous formalising of it as a calculation to further your career is awful.

Are we stuck on a word? When addressing networking, we may be tunneling, or perhaps working without a shared definition. Who knows? Once again, I agree with you that the specific networking sessions fostered by conference organisers appear misguided, and for the one I attended held at Trinners awhile back, an opportunity to drink too much Guinness rather than to advance my research agenda.

I see networking as a process, not an event, that often occurs within communities of practice, where researchers foster their collective learning, seek others working on similar problems, identify colleagues to join and contribute to developing RFPs, and work as teams on funded research projects. The venue varies. It can happen at a coffeehouse. I work with a team of researchers, that often changes its member composition depending upon the research topic, and we stay in touch by "networking, networking, networking" with each other, and like minded professionals, and grants sources.