I am getting progressively annoyed by some invitations I got to speak at conferences. throughout the years I have been fortunate sufficient to be invited in more than 20 countries to talk about my research/my experience/my work in a range of settings. I provided talks in scientific conferences of huge organisations like the American college of sports medicine or the European college of sports Science. I spoke at coaching clinics organised by Olympic Committees, national Federations, Coaching organisations. lastly I spoke at market events, or academic events for coaches/sports scientists. For me getting an invite is a fantastic honour as well as a huge responsibility. I feel proud of the recognition as well as a long time apprehensive about the task. nevertheless I tend to accept most of the requests provided I have likewise an chance to discover something and/or matches the demands of my employer. every time I have been somewhere to speak, I have always learnt something new and/or made new connections/friends as well as these have always led to some exchange of information/experiences/ideas which is great. thanks to this, I have been in so many locations I would have never been to, satisfied some fantastic people, learnt fantastic things, tried new food as well as drinks, found new cultures/ways of living, seen incredible facilities as well as sceneries.
(This is me speaking in Campinas in Brazil few years ago.
Great conference, satisfied so many fantastic people as well as had a brilliant experience)
However just recently I keep getting invites from organisations/companies organising conferences to make money. Organisations which fee a ton of money to attendees. as well as they very first send an invite to be a keynote speaker as well as then they pretend I should pay for the enjoyment of speaking at their conference.
I am sure I am not alone in this. Recently, speaking to other colleagues this seems to be happening more as well as more to many. This has to stop, as well as the only method to do it is for people to say: “No, I am not coming. If you want me to speak at your event/conference you will have to pay for the costs (travel/accommodation/etc)”.
Let me make this clear. I am not speaking about invitations to speak at a seminar of respected scientific societies of which many of us are members. In such events you go to share latest findings or discuss your research study between peers (albeit I still believe even in such situations travel grants should be provided). I am speaking about clinics as well as conferences which fee guests big sums. in that situation you are going there to inform the guests as well as teach (hopefully) something or share your understanding as well as experience. travelling costs money as well as time. So anybody invited to speak at a seminar should have at least their costs covered.
But I am pushing it a bit more. Preparing a lecture or a workshop needs time as well as effort, travelling to as well as from the seminar needs time as well as effort, obtaining understanding needs time as well as effort, providing the material needs time as well as effort. Why such time as well as effort should not be rewarded?
Former athletes/celebrities/CEOs/politicians fee extremely big sums for a dinner speech. Speeches which are an account of their experiences as well as accomplishments. A method to transmit understanding as well as experience. I have been in many of these speeches, some interesting as well as well prepared-rehearsed with fantastic material to show, some absolutely ordinary tiring with not a single picture/video/presentation in sight. All well rewarded as well as for sure, with the travel costs covered. All well deserved.
But if this is the case, why sports scientists should accept to be invited to speak at an event, make the event (you can’t offer a seminar without speakers…can you?) as well as be asked to pay for the pleasure, while the organiser makes cash? A recent invite came type a seminar charging participants somewhere around 1000 USD each. obviously typical numbers are around the 200 mark. So, when the organisers have paid the seminar location as well as few coffees as well as biscuits, exactly how much are they making? You do the math. It would be fantastic to have some views on this. I believe that people’s time is valuable as well as should always be rewarded as well as it’s as much as each private to choose if they want to “donate” their time to any type of cause (speaking to conferences included as I have done many times). Preparing a talk needs time as well as effort. It’s a job, so to me it should be thought about work.
This problem seems to be typical in other fields also (see a fantastic blog here).
So that’s it, you understand it now. If you want me to talk at your event, make sure you can cover at least the travel costs. If not, don’t bother to email me, as from now on the replieswill not be polite.
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