Conferencing

When it was suggested that I look for suitable conferences to attend or even, perish the thought, present at, they seemed a bit like buses. none around when you want them and then suddenly three all at once. Well, not quite. It’s probably that as I started looking I became more aware of them.

The first that came into view was the European Mentoring & Coaching Council 15th annual conference in Prague form the 4th to the 6th of December. As an executive coach the EMCC is my professional body. Their call for speakers was addressed to coaches, those who train coaches, and those who employ coaches. Not only am I a coach but I also train managers in coaching skills, and indeed, that is the focus of my research: how to help managers learn coaching skills effectively through some form of e-Learning. By December I will have developed both a simulation and a game but probably won’t have any reliable results by that stage. But I could give a progress report and get views from the coaching world that might be quite different from those of the Human Computer Interface world that I’m mixing with just now. it sounds like a good case of BOGOF – buy one get one free. I keep my coaching credentials while acquiring another perspective on e-Learning. So, I’m seriously considering Prague, and must put a proposal forward by the 6th of March.

Last week my supervisor emailed details of the Narrative in Interactive Learning Environments 2008 conference that will take place in Edinburgh from the 5-8 August. Papers for this one need to be in the conference organiser’s hands by the 3rd of March. I use storytelling in much of my management development work, and the simulated coaching sessions are narratives so this seems like a worthwhile event to attend. But the 3rd March deadline for papers isn’t very far away!

And then, when I though that was it, Gareth kindly sent me details of the 2nd European Conference on Games Based Learning, in Barcelona, from the 16-17 October. The title couldn’t be more appropriate for my purpose, and I’m very fond of Spain. But it’s potentially very difficult to get papers accepted – there’s lots of competition for the limited time available – and so it might be more appropriate to aim to present in 2009, when I should have some results to talk about. But definiely one to attend. A poster perhaps, if they go in for posters?

This year them it looks like two that I’ll seek to present at, Prague and Edinburgh. Watch this space!