Now that the conference season has ended for most of us, Dr. Nic from Learn & Teach Statistics shares 10 useful tips and tricks when attending conferences. Although I learned some of these the hard way, others are actually new to me.

I have only one thing to add that I learned the hard way: know your audience both when you pick your clothes and when you prepare your slides. I’ve been overdressed a number of times (there really is NO need for a suit when dealing with environmental economists) and suffered through many incomprehensible presentations and probably made the public suffer through a number of mine. To put a fine point to it I’ve added the webcomic above from xkcd that probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to most of my audience, but that I find particularly funny.

If you go to a certain conference for the first time, ask friends or colleagues who have. And if that isn’t option well than perhaps you should bring the suit just in case….