Finding speakers for an historical conference

January 3, 2018 6:31 AM

I'm part of a local history group which holds a yearly conference with around 6 speakers on a particular theme. I've been asked to look for speakers for the 2019 conference, and I'm wondering whether there is a route I'm missing in finding people. Is there any kind of register of researchers' interests?

We approach local history societies, universities, museums and relevant special interest groups, and contact people who have published in the area we're looking at. We generally don't get a good response and I suspect that in a lot of cases our emails don't reach people in the organisations who might be interested - for instance, if we approach a history department the request may not get to graduate students.

Ideally, I'd like an online database where I can specify themes - the 2019 one is Childhood and Youth - and see what researchers have expertise in that area. Is there anything like that, or another resource I'm missing?

Constraints - this is in the UK and we ask speakers to link their research to the specific geographical area we cover. We do pay but not much.

posted by paduasoy to Society & Culture (8 answers total)

Best answer: >Is there any kind of register of researchers' interests?

Not in the UK, unfortunately. It sounds like you're doing all the right things, though, at least in terms of scanning local history socs, museums, and unis. That said, I do wonder how you're phrasing the emails and/or targetting specific people - this for instance:

>if we approach a history department the request may not get to graduate students.

is almost certainly true - if they do anything with it it will be slap it into the departmental mailing list which no one reads. If you want to get an academic's attention you're much, much better off approaching them directly as an individual based on reading a bit about their work on the departmental faculty page, or whatever.

I realise this is extra work for you, rather than a blanket email, but - as an academic in this rough area myself, who also organises speakers/conferences/seminars - you need to bear in mind that lots of us are *inundated* with emails about potential conferences, seminars, speaking occasions, requests for (usually unpaid) help, etc. Paid/invited speaking occassions normally involve a personalized email (Dear Dr X, you work in Y, we'd like to hear you speak on it), not just because this makes it clear that you're not expecting them to pay to attend (which is the normal reading of a generic call for speakers), but also because it shows that you have a real interest in their work in particular.
I always ask faculty to nominate student or early career reserachers as alternatives though, as they don't always have a great presence on university websites.
posted by AFII at 6:42 AM on January 3, 2018 [3 favorites]

Best answer: One category you don’t mention: consultants. They often have interesting insights, conduct original research, work in specific geographies, and don’t mind no/low speaking fees because they’re doing it for exposure. I’m US based, however, so I don’t know how to reach them in your country.
posted by carmicha at 6:44 AM on January 3, 2018

Best answer: I am so sorry I'm unfamiliar with structures in the UK, but in case they are analogous to the US, here are some resources I use:

Search via a Speakers Bureau or Speakers Agency - an organization that maintains lists of speakers and helps them make arrangements to speak. They do take a cut, so it might be more costly than your org can manage. Those are generic search terms, not just specific businesses.

In the US, each state has something like a Council on the Humanities that maintains a roster of vetted speakers, sortable by topic. Is there something like that at the county level in the UK? Some sort of public culture-promoting body?

Ultimately, I agree with AFII that you need to make individual outreaches, not blanket emails which will just get bounced around and eventually archived. Write a few paragraphs of boilerplate about your organization and the theme of the event, mention the honorarium amount you can offer and whether you cover travel/meals, and then customize each with a paragraph showing you've researched the expert and describing why you think they would be a good fit for your audience.

Finally, you might be able to do your org a big favor if you use this experience to start them a contact list that you can all use as a database going forward. Track the names you research and use tags to sort them by expertise. As you go through the year and read a magazine article here or a post there that mentions someone relevant to a current or future theme, just add them to the list. That should start helping you all save work in future as well as develop a great roster of speakers.
posted by Miko at 9:35 AM on January 3, 2018

Best answer: Might be worth seeing if what you are able to pay lines up with the people who you are contacting. And I agree with everyone, you'll want to contact people individually for a program of this size and explain

- why you are contacting them
- what is on offer
- what you are willing to do
- how it will help them

I know it can seem like money just makes this work or not work, but if you can't pay a lot (which is fine! people understand!) it's often good to explain what else they can get out of this, for example

- luncheon with other people in the field
- free admission to the conference (if relevant)
- publication in conference proceedings (if relevant)
- social media whatever

You might also just want to contact your membership, unless it's super teeny, and see if you have people who are qualified to speak (and interested) or who might know a person. I'd also suggest possibly flyers if you can do that which you could post in places grad students and others might see them. Social media is sometimes useful for this, not just in contacting people but finding locals and/or having people make suggestions "Who would YOU like to see at ButtonCon 2018? Let us know!"

Maybe instead of thinking of this as six open slots, try to find three subject areas and try to find two people for each? Then you can tailor your message more towards the people you want to come speak and it feels less like a blanket invite.
posted by jessamyn at 10:18 AM on January 3, 2018

Best answer: At the risk of stereotyping, the local history folks in my area tend to be older and are dodgy at responding to emails. I would try picking up the phone if emails don't reach them. I agree with personalizing emails and approaching individual speakers.

Also, networking and outreach the rest of the year may save you time when it comes to conference planning. Show up to their events and introduce yourself. If they recognize your organization and know you organize this yearly conference, they may approach you to ask if they can speak.

You could also try to network with other organizations who are in the business of hiring speakers, such as schools, public libraries, museums, and neighboring historical societies. That way you can get recommendations as well.
posted by toastedcheese at 10:33 AM on January 3, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: For the UK, the Institute of Historical Research maintains an online database of theses in progress. You could use this to search, e.g., for graduate students working on 'children' or 'childhood'. The database will also give you the names of their supervisors, which should help you identify academic specialists in the area you're interested in.

As your theme is 'Childhood and Youth' it would make sense to link up with relevant specialist groups like the Children's History Society, who may have their own mailing lists. You could also try advertising in the IHR's HistoryLab Bulletin, which is aimed at UK graduate students.
posted by verstegan at 10:35 AM on January 3, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: There are also a lot of good folk on Twitter, who may be interested themselves or who would be able to signal-boost for you. Tweeting a few specific people/organizations and asking for their help would be useful: @histchild is the Children's History Society, already mentioned by verstegan, while individuals I follow who are well respected and widely followed are @lottelydia and @SocialHistoryOx. Repeatedly tweeting a request for interest with the hashtag #twitterstorians may put someone your way, too. It wouldn't take much time for you to work out how to get reach the relevant people and hashtags for your area and subject, too, though by all means DM me if you'd like to talk about it—in which case please let me know the region where you're based, too.

As regards contacting people via institutions: I would say it's almost always better to identify people you'd like to approach and email them personally than to email the institution and hope the message gets through.
posted by lapsangsouchong at 11:23 AM on January 4, 2018

Response by poster: Thank you, everyone, this is all really helpful.

Yes, I'm going to see if we can increase what we are paying.

The theses in progress link is extremely helpful, though has given me research envy.

The Twitter and society suggestions are also great, as is the suggestion to start keeping a list now for future conferences.

We have has consultant-like speakers before, if that would be the same as independent researchers? There's definitely a group of speakers who are sort of research-for-hire (within the parameters of their interests), and who do the circuit of other local history societies, but I'm not sure how to find more of them.

Thanks again.
posted by paduasoy at 5:37 AM on January 14, 2018 [1 favorite]