Why do(n't) you go to the APA Conference?

[ThatPsyGuy]

I'm just trying to see why people do/don't go to the APA Conference. I've heard mixed responses about it in general. I'm going to this upcoming one and just wanted to hear people's thoughts.

Also just want to hear some general pointers, tips, etc, about what to do there.

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[Doctor Eliza]

I’ve only been to one. It was in Honolulu. Draw your own conclusions about my motivation for attending. 😀

 

[texanpsychdoc]

For me...I've lost trust, interest, and value in APA. They've become another organization that speaks on behalf of our profession that don't necessarily represent my values, and I don't appreciate it. I used to go and present in the past, but no more.

 

[psych.meout]

I like the other conferences in my particular research and clinical interest area better.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

Speciality conferences better fit my interests and CE credit needs. Last I did APA was 2008 & only bc it was covered. It’s too big and 95% of the topics I don’t really care about, as they don’t help improve my practice.

 

[niceman]

Pros: As a student, if you have diverse interests and are still exploring different areas, APA provides a lot of opportunities to learn about them, especially when I was transitioning out of my initial specialty. Some of the sessions for grad students (e.g., internship applications, meeting with representatives from different internship sites) were also helpful for me at that time. I ended up learning about some research and got some faculty to integrate them into the existing curriculum. APA and the divisions also have different awards so all my expenses (including meals) were paid for through awards or gift cards. I tried not to overwhelm myself with sessions (e.g., only going to 2-3 sessions per day) so I could have some flexibility and enjoy the trip.

Cons: The quality of sessions varied SO much you may feel disappointed about some of the research presented. As a presenter, I felt the quality of feedback from people there was also not that good (partly because they are not from your specialty) And I went to general meetings of multiple divisions which were either cliquey or creepy (borderline unethical). Those were the people who kept saying how much they enjoyed APA but turned me off the most.

Tips:
- Keep an open mind
- Don't spend your whole day at the conference. Go to the museums in DC if you haven't been
- Feel free to walk out of a session if it is not really for you
- Present your research without much expectation and put it on your CV
- Explore different research/clinical areas
- Network if you want to
- Look for goodies/gift cards

 

[WisNeuro]

Not great for networking, most of the presentations don't interest me, better use of my travel time and expense with other conferences.

 

[Sanman]

Last time I went in person was a number of years ago because it was not that far away and my wife was out of town that weekend. I did APA virtual because it was cheap CEs. Otherwise, I try and look for more interesting and relevant conferences. The state psych association has more interesting stuff for clinicians and VA stuff is free.

 

[cara susanna]

Honestly, it's because it usually falls during my birthday and, as much as I like psychology, I don't want to spend my birthday at a conference (keep in mind that travelling tends to stress me out). It's also just too big, I prefer smaller conferences.

 

[PsychPhDone]

I'm just trying to see why people do/don't go to the APA Conference. I've heard mixed responses about it in general. I'm going to this upcoming one and just wanted to hear people's thoughts.

Also just want to hear some general pointers, tips, etc, about what to do there.

Way too big. Prefer smaller specialty conferences.

 

[R. Matey]

APA is great for students who are exploring their interests, but there are typically other more niche conferences once folks become a bit more established in their careers.

 

[ClinicalABA]

Like others, I think it's a better value/experience to go to more niche area conferences. My big conference is ABAI (where I can get APA and BCBA CEUs for the same talks). I then attend (and get more involved with) state level niche conferences. APA just has too much that's not relevant, and the timing sucks for me as it usually falls during my birthday summer vacation time (though ABAI is on memorial day weekend, which is ABSURD!).

 

[PsyDr]

1) Content is limited for my areas of interest.
2) I am incredulous that APA doesn’t look at the appearance of the attendees, and decide to put 90% of their money into reimbursement issues.
3) There is political content that directly contradicts science.

 

[Ollie123]

Put simply, why would I go to the APA conference?

The all-stars in your field (whatever field that may be) are extremely unlikely to be attending. You thus get a handful of hotshots from across all areas, many of whom are the ones doing "cool" but not necessarily rigorous research. Even their talks will usually be mediocre and distilled for a general audience....I didn't see anything I couldn't have gotten from reading a couple of their papers. Trying to find anything related to what you do is looking for a needle in a haystack. Trying to find anything GOOD related to what you do is looking for a needle in a field of haystacks distributed randomly over half a city. A huge portion of the posters are things that were fundamentally not worth doing. A sizable portion were bare-bones undergrad projects, clinicians presenting nonsensical things because they don't know how to science and stuff that wouldn't pass muster elsewhere.

I could see some utility as an undergrad just for coolness aspect. By graduate school, I think specialty conferences are infinitely better both for the information conveyed and for networking (esp. if your mentor goes too and does their job properly). I think its notable that the R1 presence at the conference is negligible compared to any specialty conference you might find. The only folks I know who attend regularly are folks at community colleges and small regional colleges that don't really have any research programs to speak of.

As for what to do there: Honestly, pick a couple things to attend and then go explore the city with your friends. I don't know what stage you are at, but look for names of people you'd like to meet for potential internship/post-doc positions (if a student) and stalk them at their poster/talk to introduce yourself. DO NOT go to the student programming unless its changed since I was there. Most of it was downright terrible. If you are posting here, you are probably well past the stage where anything in it would be valuable to you. I attended a presentation that was 50% about how to emotionally cope with negative feedback from reviewers during the publication process. I walked out despite the fact that it was in an obscure location and I couldn't get to anything else interesting for the remainder of the session.

 

[Sanman]

1) Content is limited for my areas of interest.
2) I am incredulous that APA doesn’t look at the appearance of the attendees, and decide to put 90% of their money into reimbursement issues.
3) There is political content that directly contradicts science.

I could let the beard grow out and throw on a ratty t-shirt for APA if we could make this happen. You think making a cardboard sign asking for donations would be too much?

 

[calimich]

I've gone to several APAs. DCx2. Toronto. Denver. Chicago. SF. Minneapolis. Although I'm not planning on DC this fall. I've enjoyed them all -- mostly for seeing friends, checking out areas of psych I'm not familiar with, I usually watch the short films and attend the live interview-style talks. I also try to get out a see a bit of the city. Roots concert in Toronto; watched the A's play the White Sox in Chicago; museums of DC; George Floyd memorial/Cup Foods in Minn. I took students to SF, Chicago, and Minneapolis, my wife has come a few times, and my kids came to SF. I've always had a poster or two, sometime a paper or a talk, and so the trips have been funded, and "counted" toward tenure. I imagine I'll continue attending as long as funding is available.

 

[chicandtoughness]

I went to one, Denver 2016, because I was presenting. The presentations and workshops I attended were strangely very poor quality. The only session I found genuinely useful was by a well known researcher in a very niche area I was interested in (mental health for ballet dancers). Everything else felt way too surface level. I haven’t been back, that experience turned me off from it. Also, just generally pricey.

 

[Justanothergrad]

I do, mainly and solely because of board meetings