APA Convention - Good or bad?

[Ollie123]

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I admit this was my first one, but was anyone else underwhelmed with the convention? I came in with very high hopes, thinking this was going to be the "Big leagues" in terms of quality of talks, presentations, etc. but I felt like the average talk, poster, etc. was of much lower quality than I see at other conferences (Nothing personal to those who presented since I obviously couldn't go to everything!). About half the talks that I thought would be good ended up seeming "Dumbed down" for a general audience. Most of the APAGS stuff was taught at a level I found downright insulting at first and I walked out on two of them, though people have convinced me that's a sign my mentor and lab are good.

I may submit to APS soon (think the deadline is coming up) - I loved some of the division programming, but I'm planning to get involved with at least one national organization as a graduate student so I want to check out a couple before casting my lot.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

The best conferences are almost always the national/international niche conferences. The top people in that particular area always seem to speak. I think of APA as having a lot of good, but nothing great....kind of like a chain restaurant. You may see a big name, but a niche conference will have many big names within that sub-field, which is awesome if that is your area.

 

[psyed4clinPhD]

I found the same thing. I actually ended up leaving early from most of the presentations; both APAGS and non-APAGS. I only had one really geat symposium out of the whole conference. 👎 It may have had something to do with not matching my interests enough or me not going to a variety; I only went to symposiums and APAGS stuff, no round tables or posters.

 

[Therapist4Chnge]

I found the same thing. I actually ended up leaving early from most of the presentations; both APAGS and non-APAGS. I only had one really geat symposium out of the whole conference. 👎 It may have had something to do with not matching my interests enough or me not going to a variety; I only went to symposiums and APAGS stuff, no round tables or posters.

I felt the same way at APA New Orleans....the last one I attended. I've gotten much more our of conferences in my areas of interest. I can't tell you how awesome the questions were at my last conference (AAS). I had at least 2 people I referenced in my work (yikes!) come up to me and give me some great feedback. They actually took the time to read through my blurb and think about it. I thought that was awesome. 😀

 

[Ollie123]

Oh, there were a few that were great, don't get me wrong. Cacioppo was brilliant as always, there was some good DSM-V stuff. Certainly many good posters, but again, I feel like the average poster was well below what I typically see elsewhere. Did get some good networking in including another few deferred post-doc invites, but that was it. It wasn't even so much that it wasn't my area. I'm perhaps focused on addictions at the moment, but my interests are very broad and the basic goal is refining our diagnostic system by determining underlying factors. So its not like I went in wanting/expecting to see tons of stuff in my area - I went in explicitly wanting a broader view. What I saw was just....not impressive.

 

[Quynh2007]

APS's deadline is usually like the first of January, but I think it would probably be a little more of what you are looking for.

I was considering going, but Toronto was too much money. I haven't gone to an APA one yet. I'll probably go and mostly attend AAPA stuff some time in the future, at least once.

 

[JockNerd]

Oh, there were a few that were great, don't get me wrong. Cacioppo was brilliant as always, there was some good DSM-V stuff. Certainly many good posters, but again, I feel like the average poster was well below what I typically see elsewhere. Did get some good networking in including another few deferred post-doc invites, but that was it. It wasn't even so much that it wasn't my area. I'm perhaps focused on addictions at the moment, but my interests are very broad and the basic goal is refining our diagnostic system by determining underlying factors. So its not like I went in wanting/expecting to see tons of stuff in my area - I went in explicitly wanting a broader view. What I saw was just....not impressive.

Yeah, I have kind of the same feeling. I think one problem is that APA gets big by essentially rejecting nothing; it's definitely NOT like one of the niche-y conferences, where rejection rates for posters can rival journal rejection rates. This is also the source of the presence of some, frankly, pretty weak work. I'm pretty sure the world will get by just fine if no one ever again picked some random variable and did a male/female difference test. Guh.

I was pleased with most of the stuff I went to. I will agree that some of the APAGS programming was very weak. I went to one that was supposed to be something on "Charting your early career" that ended up being some person in private prac talking about the last ten years of her life. Very boring. If you think APAGS programming sucked, be sure you tell them so--they're receptive to that feedback from students and can work on things.

 

[cardamom]

Having been to APA Boston after having attended a more focused conference like ABCT, I have to say the latter was infinitely more useful and enjoyable. I wouldn't be in a rush to attend APA again unless I were presenting or it were very convenient, whereas I very much look forward to ABCT, and there are other smaller conferences that also sound interesting.

 

[psybee]

I stuck to mostly Division 38 programming and I had a great expereince at APA Toronto. Susan McDaniel, Ann Webster, Helen Coons--my main interests are health and medical psych, collaborative healthcare, primary care psych, and chronic and life-threatening illness and Division 38 had it going on! I also enjoyed the ethics symposium, and Dr. Zimbardo was amazing (both actually amazing and also "oh my goodness did he just integrate a commercial for his book in into his powerpoint? and did he really just say he's selling t0shirts and they're only $20?" amazing).