The month of May is proving to be a whirlwind and we are only 6 days in. But I wanted to take a moment out of my day to write down some of my reflections and experiences from my first ever BTS Conference.I have been to a lot of different conferences over the years, but this one definitely had a different kind of vibe and I loved it. This blog is more my overall reflections of the experience of the conference, rather than getting into the details of the research. If you want to see more of the blow-by-blow of my experience, I’ve added my conference tweets at the bottom of this post.
To get this out of the way…
I will admit that I had some concerns before the conference started given the tension over research in the community and newbie researchers talking to magazine outlets that I shall not name here. A part of my goal for tweeting during the conference (and this blog) was to increase the transparency to which these research activities are to ARMY as a whole. I want concerns and questions about research, the purpose, how it works, what the outcomes are answered before they get to the point that ARMY are only hearing about it after the fact in a media outlet. Fortunately, everyone at the conference (and from what I saw on Twitter) were open, transparent and understanding of one another.
Now the good stuff!
Because the conference was by topic rather than discipline, it had a diverse range of fields and types of people represented (from hobbyists to full professors). For me personally, this is my favorite kind of space to be in. There is something so magical about being in interdisciplinary spaces. Everyone brings their own expertise and backgrounds to the room to discuss specific topics and the conversations that are unleashed are always rewarding. Are there some frustrations and miscommunications? Sure. But by far, diversity and interdisciplinarity is always the best option.
Partially because the audience was both interdisciplinary and not necessarily “academic” (in the ivory tower sense of the word), the content and talks were approachable and accessible. The keynote speech on the first day by Dr. Crystal Anderson set a wonderful tone that I feel pervaded the whole rest of the conference. Right from the start, ARMY as the fans were centered as the experts in this space – not journalists or other academics. And certainly not nameless older abled white male academic whose opinion is so often valued by those outside the community (insert eye roll here).
Researchers studying both BTS and ARMY, at least at this conference, were here because they value both BTS and ARMY – many opened their talks by giving their backgrounds not just as researchers, but as ARMY. It was refreshing. Honestly, between the open passion about being ARMY and the diversity (oh the wonderful diversity) of panelists and attendees really made this the safest I have felt at a conference, ever.
The big take-away from the conference, for me, was: Vulnerability and being open about struggles helps to create a space for us to care for each other (both for BTS and ARMY). In online spaces, there are real people with their own pain and struggles behind the screen. Care is loving yourself & taking care of your community.
The conference organizers (next year’s organizers or other research ARMY organizing these kind of events, feel free to slide me a DM if you want to talk about making the event more accessible) did a wonderful job of setting the tone and I came away with lots of ideas for my own research. I met a lot of other passionate ARMY also interested in furthering the same goals of bringing knowledge to our community. Overall, the whole experience left me motivated and with a feeling that I’m really glad I am both ARMY and researcher. Borahae!
