Ruth Jenkins - Executive Officer Apr 15, 2025
The Mercian Conference group is asking for your help in supporting our conference speakers for Mercian 2025: Resilience, Relevance, and Reach: Libraries Making an Impact! (#Mercian25).
The annual Mercian conference encourages those who have never spoken at a conference before to give it a try. It is a great opportunity for professional development but can also be a daunting task for those with little or no conference experience.
With this in mind, we would like to create a pool of conference “Buddies” from across the Mercian institutions to support our speakers throughout the conference process.
What would I have to do?
- Assistance with applying to the conference e.g. proof reading of bios, abstracts and proposals.
- Preparing for speaking at the conference e.g. listening to practice runs of sessions and offering feedback.
- Being a general point of support for those who are navigating their first conference.
Who would I be a Buddy to?
The Mercian Speaker Liaison team would assign you to someone who said they would need support; you could then liaise with them separately to identify their support needs. Ideally, we would try to assign you to someone within your institution however you may also need to offer support to someone remotely.
Could I be a buddy?
If you meet all or some of the criteria below, then you’re perfect for the job:
- Has prior experience of speaking at a conference.
- Willing to be a named point of support for a Mercian speaker.
- Willing to offer some time in the lead up to the submission deadline (14th May) and on the lead up to conference day (11th September).
- Willing to offer support and reassurance to Mercian speakers on what to expect from conference day.
- Willing to offer a critical eye to submission and conference material prior to delivery.
How do I express my interest?
Email mercianconference@gmail.com with ‘Mercian 25 Conference Buddying Scheme’ in the subject line and express your interest. We’ll be in touch with more details about the scheme and buddying opportunities.
We look forward to hearing from you!
