2011 Summer Conference Report: Open Science – Friends of the Future & 2011 APA Convention
Hello blogosphere! I have had a busy summer and am just about to head off for my late summer vacation.
Before doing so, I wanted to share some of the fun professional things I got to participate in recently.
Open Science – Friends of the Future
On Sunday, June 26th, I got to attend an invitation-only gathering of “interesting people with good ideas,” hosted by the Institute for the Future, a 43-year-old non-profit think-tank that helps companies, governments, and other organizations think about long-term future trends to make better decisions in the present. The focus of the day was to discuss and spark ideas around the bleeding edge futures of scientific exploration across multiple disciplines over the next decade. We were asked to think about what challenges, dreams, hopes, or solutions we need to address in the next ten years.
A week before the event, I started to get a touch of “imposter syndrome” when I realized I was the only psychologist in attendance with a group of anthropologists, neuroscientists, astrobiologists, astronomers, neurophysiologists…and, well, you get the picture. I began to worry that maybe I’m not so sciency, afterall!
But, the day was so rich with fascinating exchanges. I attended four sessions: Privacy, The Future of Attention, Social Media Culture….and Colonization in Space. At one point during the latter session, a couple of astronomers stopped their great conversation to look at me with genuine interest and say, “Hey, what do you, as a psychologist think about this? Do you have ideas we are missing?”
The whole experience reminded me once again about how important I feel it is for us to go to professional conferences that are multidisciplinary and not just go to events for psychologists. I got to learn so much, and they left me feeling that it was enriching for them to have me there.
If you want to get a taste of the event, you can see all of the compiled tweets.
2011 APA Annual Convention in Washington, D.C.
Last weekend, I was in D.C. for the 2011 APA Convention. I felt like I had to hit the ground running for this one, as it was my first time attending as Digital Director of APA Division 42.
I had a jam-packed two days in D.C. which included participating in Division 42’s Mentorshoppe lunch with some great students and Early Career professionals and some great experienced psychologists.
I also got to take part in some video interviews for APA Help Center to help answer questions that the general public may have about psychological care.
Then I was off to our Symposium on 21st Century Media: What Every Practicing Psychologist Needs to Know which also featured Angel Brownawell, APA Practice Directorate Integrated Media Manager on Branding Yourself as an Expert to the Media, Nancy Shute, NPR, reporter and blogger on Tips and strategies for working with the print and broadcast media, and Deb Kotz, Health reporter, blogger, Boston Globe on How to Use Your Blog to reach the Public and the Media. I spoke on Using Social Media to Brand Yourself as a Psychologist. I learned so much from my co-presenters. Thank you! Our Symposium was chaired by Nancy Molitor, Ph.D., President of APA Division 42.
The following day was spent in the Division 42 Board Meeting. Later that evening, I got to enjoy our Awards Ceremony and Social where I was honored to receive the “Best of the IP” Award** which is a yearly award that goes to the article voted best in Division 42’s Independent Practitioner Quarterly. It was extra-special to receive this award alongside such heroes of mine as Stephen Behnke, J.D., Ph.D. and Lillian Comas-Diaz, Ph.D. who both also received awards at the ceremony. My friend and colleague, Michael Schwartz, Psy.D. also received the Mentoring Award.
Later in the evening, I took videos of a handful of the Division 42 members in attendance which I’ve added to the Youtube channel of Division 42. It makes me happy to see these folks on video whom I mostly communicate with the rest of the year via email.
And with that, I’m off to unplug until September. Enjoy the rest of August, everyone!
**My article citation is:
Kolmes, K. (2010). Developing my private practice social media policy. Independent Practitioner, Summer 2010, 30 (3), pp. 140-143.
