Joining the global conversation at the ISA’s 2022 Convention

Note: This post was written in June 2022. 
 
A couple of months ago, I was lucky enough to attend the 2022 International Studies Association (ISA) Convention that took place in Nashville, Tennessee. This time, the convention was hybrid as there was a two-day online section followed by a four-day in-person gathering.
 
Participating in a convention allows you to join the global conversation about International Affairs. On this occasion, I was able to submit two papers that were accepted, one online about Mexico´s gastrodiplomacy and one in-person on Mexico´s consular diplomacy. In addition, I was the chair of a panel on diaspora diplomacy and the discussant of a poster presentation. 
 
It is a very different experience presenting a paper at a convention rather than just attending. In the former, you must prepare, polish, and finish your essay on time. Besides, you must be able to summarize your finding in no more than ten minutes. Showcasing your research is a more engaging and rewarding experience because of several reasons, including:

• Contacting fellow presenters, chairs, and discussants is crucial as you must coordinate the session. It is a great way to meet scholars working on similar, if not the same, issues as you are. 
• The discussions during the panels are critical because they provide different perspectives about your research, and most of the feedback you get will improve it. Listening to other presentations and reading their essays can also bring new ideas and perspectives that you can apply to your work. 
• The connections you make with panelists, the audience, and others can produce immediate results. For example, the chair and discussant of one of my panels put me in contact with a researcher from Europe interested in the same topic, and we had a fruitful conversation. I have read some of his work, and it was great speaking to him. 

 
Attending the convention also gives you a chance to meet great scholars. I had the opportunity to speak to Prof. Paul Sharp from the University of Minnesota at Duluth. Besides receiving two book recommendations for my class, I also got a couple of the much-sought-after “drink tickets,” which I did not know anything about because the previous convention was online due to the pandemic. You can read my experience in the this blogpost. 
 
In the Twitter feed of ISA, there were comments about having a reduced number of participants. I don´t think it was bad because it allowed attendants to interact more deeply. Of course, it was awkward to see panels with no audience or less than half of the scholars that were supposed to participate. You just have to make the most out of the situation. 
 
Being a practitioner among scholars sometimes felt a bit strange; however, having a frank discussion between the two groups could add value to the work we all do. Having a set of practitioner panels and a combination of academic and practitioner roundtables would be interesting.
 
An added value of conventions is that you go to places you would most likely never visit on your own. This was the case of Nashville, also knowns as Music City and currently a hot spot for tech companies. Everywhere, there were construction sites. And don´t get me started about the resort Gaylord Opryland Resort.
 
One thing I missed from the online convention format was that I did not have to wait 15 minutes to get an expensive cup of coffee. 
 
Attending ISA Convention in Nashville allowed me to join the global conversation on subjects that will determine the faith of many countries and maybe even the planet. 
 
DISCLAIMER: All views expressed on this blog are that of the author and do not represent the opinions of any other authority, agency, organization, employer, or company.

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