IATEFL Highlights 2014

As ever, this year’s IATEFL conference was varied, inspiring, fun, thought-provoking and yes, completely exhausting! Below I’ve picked out just a few of my highlights:

Meeting up with people who I’ve worked with but hadn’t met in person before – especially The Round authors who I’ve worked with this year on editing their ebooks; Jennie Wright & Christina Rebuffet-Broadus, who wrote Experimental Practice in ELT and Dan Barber, who wrote From English Teacher to Learner Coach along with Duncan Foord (who I sadly didn’t manage to cross paths with).

Going along to Jennie and Christina’s session which I would never have chosen if I hadn’t known them – just because it’s not within my usual areas of interest – but which was great fun and I think by far the most enjoyable session I went to this year!

The MaWSIG PCE, the first time I’d been to a pre-conference event. There were some interesting sessions and lots of great chat, but mainly it was just nice to be with lots of people like me!  Especially as a freelance writer, rather than a full-time teacher, it’s really nice to feel properly part of a group.

In the same vein, there was a great freelancer’s lunch on Thursday where I got to chat with freelance colleagues old and new, to share some of the joys and frustrations of freelancing. Big thanks to Karen White for organising that one and an ELT T2W gathering on Friday night too – lots of fun!

I had fun doing a bit of blatant self-promotion in my How to Write EAP Materials t-shirt. A lot of people didn’t quite ‘get’ the slogan on the front, which some seemed to mistake for something in Spanish! It still started a few conversations though, which after all, was the idea …

I did lots of useful networking, a mix of pre-planned meetings, publisher’s events and just general schmoozing. I gave out lots of cards and I’ve got fingers crossed for some potential new work down the line.

An unexpected highlight this year came from mentoring a new speaker. I’d ticked a box on my proposal form way back in September and completely forgotten about it. Then a couple of weeks ago I was contacted by my ‘mentee’.  We did quite a bit of to-ing and fro-ing via email ahead of the conference while he worked on preparing his session. And although we didn’t finally manage to meet in person, he sent me a lovely message after his session saying how helpful my input had been, which was a really great note to end the week on!

Oh and did I mention the Turkish Baths … ?!

Getting the most out of IATEFL - Part 2

I sent out my first emails today to set up meetings for IATEFL, so I thought it was time I followed up with some more IATEFL tips.  It’s a huge event and everyone does it in their own way, but as a freelance writer this is my take on getting the most from it:

Be comfortable: it can be a very long day, so wear comfy shoes and check your coat into the cloakroom so you don’t have to lug it around (it usually only costs a pound). Personally, I also try to carry minimal stuff to avoid achy shoulders – I always say no to the free bag/pen/notebook, etc. at registration, it’s just more stuff to carry.

Be selective: if you’re registered and going along to sessions, don’t try to do too much. If you fill up your day rushing from one talk to another, not only will you soon be knackered, but you’ll also miss out on lots of valuable networking opportunities. I usually earmark a few really key sessions that I definitely don’t want to miss, then a few others that look interesting and leave myself gaps for schmoozing and just catching my breath.

Arrive early: if there’s a session you really want to attend, chances are others will too and the room may fill up quickly. Check where it is on the floor plan so you don’t get caught out on the other side of the conference centre just as it’s starting.

Be brave: it’s easy to mostly hang out with people you already know. Of course, it’s great to catch up with old pals and to cement existing contacts, but try to talk to new people too. If you go to a talk by an author/publisher, go up at the end and introduce yourself, say how much you enjoyed the talk.  Sit next to people you don’t know – I’ve met several really useful contacts as a result of a ‘pairwork activity’ in a workshop.

Be flexible: if you get chatting to someone useful, suggest going for a coffee there and then, regardless of whether you were planning to go to another session.

Be ready to drink lots of coffee! The stuff you buy from a coffee outlet is always going to be better than the free stuff provided in the breaks.

Give out cards: take along plenty of business cards and remember to give them out. Make sure you don’t lose the ones you collect either. And if you think you’ll forget who was who, jot yourself a note on the back of important ones.

Chat to folk on stands: spend some time mooching around the publishers’ stands in the exhibition hall. It’s a good way to keep up-to-date with who’s published what and it’s a great opportunity for making useful contacts. If you’re there during a session (rather than a break), get chatting to the staff on the stand. They’ll probably be from sales or marketing, but they may able to introduce you to any editorial staff who happen to be around, or at least tell you who you need to look out for.

Go to publishers’ events: most of the publishers will have an evening ‘do’ at some point. These are where a lot of the best networking takes place!  It may be open to everyone and advertised on the stand or it may be invitation only. Ask stand staff if they’re having a ‘do’, they’ll often be happy to give out invites.

Take a break: if you’re there for more than a day or two, give yourself some down time – come in late or leave a bit early. If you’re going to an evening do, a bit of a pit-stop back at your hotel can be a welcome chance to kick your shoes off for a bit. And if you’re as rubbish as me at drinking on an empty stomach, get a bite to eat before you go – the ‘nibbles’ will never be more than just that!

Take painkillers: inevitably all that coffee and sitting around in stuffy rooms will give you a headache at some point - so I always carry some Nurofen in my bag.

Follow up: I always write up a list of stuff to follow up on the train home. If you met someone who said they might have some work coming up, drop them an email when you get back. You may not get a response right away but at least you’re in their email address book.

See you there!

Getting the most out of IATEFL - Part 1

Recently, several fellow freelancers working in ELT publishing have asked whether it’s worth going to the IATEFL conference – this year in Harrogate at the start of April. I’m a big fan of the conference and my answer has been an unequivocal ‘yes’!  It’s great for keeping up-to-date with what’s going on in ELT generally, but from a freelancer’s point of view, I think it’s even more valuable for making contacts which can lead onto work. I’ve lost track of how many projects I’ve worked on that came about either directly or indirectly as a result of people I met at IATEFL.

So anyway, having talked several people into going, I promised I’d put together some tips for getting the most out of the experience. Here’s part one about things to think about before you go:

To register or not?

As a freelancer, the cost of registration, plus travel, plus accommodation can seem like a big (and often unaffordable) expense, especially as it comes on top of time lost at your desk. Perhaps the most effective way to get around that is to offer to speak on behalf of a publisher – if your proposal’s accepted, the publisher will usually pay for your registration and travel, plus some accommodation (although sometimes only a night or two around your talk).

If you haven’t already gone down that route for this year though, probably the cheapest option is to go along to the conference (for as long as you can afford) without registering. You can go into the conference venue and the publisher’s exhibition hall (quite legitimately!) without having to register as a delegate.  That means you can browse around all the publishers stands to see what’s new, but more importantly, you still get lots of networking opportunities. Lots of the key publishing folk you might want to talk to (i.e. in-house editors) will hang around the stands at some point, although be aware that editors will tend to be pretty busy, so it may be worth booking a slot with them in advance if you possibly can – see below. You can also meet up with other freelancers over coffee who can be really useful contacts as well as just good to chat with and share experiences. And by hanging around, you’ll also hear about any evening events going on – publisher’s do’s which are also great for networking.

Tip: If you don’t register, you won’t get a name badge. I know they feel a bit naff, but honestly, people are more likely to remember your name if they see it on a badge - how often are you introduced to someone, then forget their name and are too embarrassed to ask again? I’ve made up a simple name badge before just using an old one from a previous event.

Last year,  I went along for just a day and a half without registering (see my blog post about it here) and I definitely felt it was worth it – I’ve since got work for a new client directly as a result of going along to their evening do. I did though feel a bit left out not being able to go to sessions. That’s partly just because they can be interesting, but from a purely business point of view, I think I also missed a few people I’d liked to have talked to.  If you’ve got a particular area of interest (so for me dictionaries and EAP), then the sessions on those topics are often the best place to bump into the most useful contacts.

Tip: Don't be afraid to ask people you already know to introduce you to people you haven't met.

If you don’t want to register for the whole week, then you could also pick just one day (either in advance or you can pay ‘on the door’ too).  Take a look at the provisional programme on the IATEFL website to get an idea which sessions/day might be most useful for you.

Making dates:

As I said, a lot of editors are very busy through IATEFL, so it can be worth contacting them in advance to ‘make a date’.  If you’re currently working with someone who you haven’t met face-to-face, meeting up to say ‘hello’, even if it’s just over a coffee (be prepared to drink LOTS of coffee!) can be really useful to chat about how the project’s going, but also to cement your relationship with them and increase your chances of getting more work in future. Quite often they’ll mention something else coming up that you can express an interest in. Similarly, if you’ve worked with someone recently who you’d like to work with again, get in touch with them and suggest meeting up.

It can all feel like some weird kind of dating scenario, but honestly, once you’ve taken the plunge and sent off a few friendly emails, it’s really not that bad!

In my next post, I’ll talk about how to make the most of it once you’re there …