The conference has been a success, contributing greatly to my professional development. During the five days of the conference, I had the opportunity to not only present my work and get feedback and questions on it, but also to be exposed to the latest research in my areas of interest, explore possible opportunities for publication and meet colleagues working in similar projects.
During the conference I had the opportunity to promote the RSA and distribute membership materials. In my three presentations I started with a 2-min introduction explaining that my attendance to the conference had been made possible by the RSA, and explained briefly RSA’s purposes, history and membership benefits. This was supported with the ppt slides and by distributing fliers and information to the public. I also made myself available in case people wanted to talk about RSA at the end of the talk. In two occasions, after my presentations, people that came to speak to me about my paper were also interested in knowing more about RSA and so I gave them a membership flyer and RSA information.
On the first day of the conference I put up the two posters about Early Career Grant Scheme, and the call for Papers for Territory, Politics and Governance on display next to the registration desk and on the announcements display. I also left membership brochures for attendees to help themselves to. Interestingly, the next annual convention of the International Studies Association in 2015 has a theme on regions under the title of ‘Global IR and Regional Worlds: A New Agenda for International Studies’. I therefore believe that this was a very timely occasion for scholars to know more about RSA.