When is paying for travel out of pocket worth it?

[polly_mer]

I spent a lot of time in roles where I could get time off to attend conferences and workshops, but the institution wouldn't pay for the travel and registration fees.  Thus, I paid for much travel out of my own pocket.  I know many people will be in a similar boat, especially those who are adjuncting while applying for full-time positions or are grad students with only a stipend.

The question is: when is paying out of pocket an investment in one's own future and when is doing so propping up a system that doesn't care about many of the current aspirants?

Personally, I've paid for a lot of workshops to learn a particular skill or set of skills.  For example, the physics education research community tends to host a handful of weekends a year where people share their best tips on teaching with special concentration on beginners who don't have all the math skills one would hope.  Attending a workshop in using R led to a more solid case for my being qualified to learn on a job for which I wasn't technically qualified.

I've paid for some conferences where I presented and "everyone" in a topic area goes.  I get much less out of the formal presentations than I expected, but the face time with people who are working in my areas so we can really discuss has been very valuable--and more valuable the more isolated I was in a teaching or other position where I was the only person in my field within a two-hour drive.

However, I've read for years about people who pay a lot of money to attend the conference where interviews are held and those articles often ask the question of why the interviewee is footing the bill.  In addition, the article https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/april-2019/the-fate-of-the-aha-interview-at-some-point-the-cons-might-outweigh-the-pros indicates that in-person interviews at the conference are becoming less important.

What are your criteria for being willing to pay out of pocket travel?

What do you think about trying to hasten the demise of the conference interview that benefits few?

[Parasaurolophus]

My field moved away from the conference interview model (and adopted Skype interviews instead) in the last six or seven years, and it's been a net positive. Quite apart from all the other problems with conference interviews (including a culture of sexual harassment), they were horrendously expensive. The hotels were expensive to begin with, and cheaper local options became much more expensive thanks to the influx of conferencers and tourists, to say nothing about the time of year--the conference was always held during the Christmas holidays. Flights are always relatively expensive (especially for people outside the US), but they're much worse during the holidays, etc. And then you factor in registration and all that crap, and applicants were easily out by a thousand dollars. And, frequently, the conference was disrupted by bad winter weather. It was nuts, and nobody misses that model--least of all search committees, since not having conference interviews has meant substantial savings for the department, which no longer has to foot the bill for flying and lodging a committee. I can't believe it persisted for so long, and still does in other fields.


For my part, I've never had funding to attend a conference, and I've done a lot of conferencing by any standards (I did eight a year for years and years). (Well, that's not entirely true: I've occupied some roles in my subfield association which qualified me for subsidized travel to our meetings, and I've had travel subsidies when I've been a conference organizer, too. But it's close enough to true. I've certainly never had institutional support, or money from my supervisors when I was a grad student.)

That's pretty normal in my field, though: there's almost never any money for conference travel. So if we didn't pay out of pocket, there'd be no conferences. When I was an early grad student, I applied to any and every conference for which I had a viable paper to present. I think it was a good strategy, and I think I learned a lot from it--not so much in terms of feedback to my work, but in terms of being socialized into the discipline, making connections, getting myself recognized, mastering research presentations, etc. And, of course, I got to travel a lot, which was fun and interesting in its own right.

At this point, though, I pretty much only stir my stumps selectively. My subfield association has four meetings a year (one annual, three divisional), and there are four other related conferences each year from cognate associations in other parts of the world. I pretty much restrict myself to these conferences, and even then, I only do two or three a year (two further afield, and one local-ish one, if there is one). At this point, I'm getting much less out of my participation than I did as an early grad student; really, I'm mostly just maintaining my contacts and getting a sense for what's up in my subfield. I still love conferencing, and sometimes wish I had the energy to do more of it, but... it just doesn't seem worth my while to do so much of it any more. I have more than enough conference lines on my CV at this point; it wouldn't make one iota of difference even if I managed to double that number.

[spork]

I regularly decline invitations to join panels for conferences because attending would require that I pay out of pocket. The amount of money that my university will commit to conference reimbursement hasn't changed in fifteen years. It was paltry back then and even worse now.

Usually this means foregoing my disciplinary association's annual meeting, which isn't really a loss for me because the event is overwhelmingly focused on arcane research topics that have nothing to do with my teaching or scholarship. I obtain no benefit from badly-organized, poorly-delivered presentations filled with meaningless jargon. None of the conferences that I do attend involve training in specific skills. Conference attendance would be more enticing if the professional associations I have connections to (history, anthropology, political science, English, etc.) offered, for example, a weekend bootcamp event at which people were trained to use a particular piece of software or teach a specific subject to a particular population. To learn about others' research that might be pertinent to my interests and work, it's far more cost effective for me to read journal articles.

[mamselle]

I think it was on the old forum, I'll have to pull it up and link when I'm on my laptop, but I noted that as an independent scholar, going means paying for the trip myself, under almost all circumstances.

In two cases, very kind friends have stood me the $500.00 needed for registration, housing, and basic travel because I'd had a paper accepted but was tight on funds.

Otherwise, I start saving my pennies as soon as the CFP/abstract goes in!

M.

[paultuttle]

I've been able to pay out of pocket very cheaply by (1) driving my own car long hours to get to the conference location and (2) staying in cheap but safe motels (the ones that rent by the night, rather than the ones that rent by the hour).

By doing this, I was able to keep one visit to Orlando under $500 (including the $100 conference registration fee). By doing this and using Metro, I was able to keep a visit to DC under $750 (including the $500 registration fee).

[Morden]

I think a lot depends upon the career stage. One thing I wish I had done/known earlier: Pick a particular association and prioritize its meetings for several years in a row. You gradually build up a network of people (especially if you also volunteer in some capacity for the organization).

[aside]

I've been able to pay out of pocket very cheaply by (1) driving my own car long hours to get to the conference location and (2) staying in cheap but safe motels (the ones that rent by the night, rather than the ones that rent by the hour).

By doing this, I was able to keep one visit to Orlando under $500 (including the $100 conference registration fee). By doing this and using Metro, I was able to keep a visit to DC under $750 (including the $500 registration fee).

I've begun driving to conferences more myself when I'm using my own funds.  Beyond the financial savings, I love to drive on the open road and rarely get to do so, and flying has become so unpleasant and sometimes unpredictable (oversold flights, weather/mechanical delays, missed connections, etc.).  Not that driving is always predictable, but at least you have some control.

[Parasaurolophus]

I think a lot depends upon the career stage. One thing I wish I had done/known earlier: Pick a particular association and prioritize its meetings for several years in a row. You gradually build up a network of people (especially if you also volunteer in some capacity for the organization).

Yeah, this seems exactly right to me. It's also easier to build a network this way; if you see the same people over and over, then you don't have to shoehorn yourself into their presence/network. It's way more natural.

[paultuttle]

When deciding whether to go to a conference on my own dime, I think of (in no particular order):

(1) Our household budget and whether it will withstand the hit;

(2) The registration fee, cost of travel, cost of lodging, and cost of any meals not covered by the registration fee;

(3) The value of the information I will receive; and/or

(4) The value of the networking that will occur.

[apostrophe]

I pay a lot of research expenses out of pocket. My institution has a research fund, but I can use it up in less than a month of summer work.

[Vkw10]

Early in my career, I paid out of pocket for the two major conferences in my field every year. I was active on committees, submitted papers and posters, contributed session commentary to association newsletter, and volunteered as a session moderator. It helped me make connections and kept me sane, until I could move to a university that supported travel.

My current university usually supports two conferences a year, if I'm a bit frugal in making arrangements. I occasionally pay out of pocket when I want to attend a third conference, especially when the conference is in an interesting location.Fortunately, I find small Midwest cities interesting.

[darkstarrynight]

I think a lot depends upon the career stage. One thing I wish I had done/known earlier: Pick a particular association and prioritize its meetings for several years in a row. You gradually build up a network of people (especially if you also volunteer in some capacity for the organization).

I agree with this advice. I am surprised when my former students who are recent graduates will not attend conferences (especially when they are job seeking) if their current employer will not cover their travel costs (these are staff positions).  I funded my first seven years attending a particular organization's conference on a very limited salary.  However, just like I think taking student loans was worth the investment in my education (which are paid off), I never regretted paying for this travel.  My involvement in this organization has been very impactful in my career.  The networking has been vital for me, leading to leadership positions, awards, and data sources for my research.