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Under Review with Dr Sarah McLusky and Dr Russell Arnott. Fixing academic conferences.
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Episode Description
Welcome to another episode of Under Review, the podcast where we dare to imagine a better academia for everyone. In each episode, I give my guests the ultimate power to toss the most annoying, outdated, and useless parts of the academic system straight into the Under Review Bin, never to be seen again!
In this episode, we are tackling a central piece of the academic ecosystem: conferences. Ideally, conferences are where ground-breaking ideas are shared, vital networks are built, and professionals get to test out new concepts (while occasionally enjoying a nice trip). We have all attended conferences that have inspired us and some that don’t always hit the mark.
To help us dissect what works, what fails, and what needs to get binned, I am joined by two fantastic experts who are actively rewriting the event playbook: Sarah McLusky and Russell Arnott.
Sarah McLusky is a multi-skilled consultant specialising in helping people and organisations design deeply engaging, successful events. You might also know her as the host of the Research Adjacent podcast, where she champions the many diverse professionals driving higher education forward.
Russell Arnott is a passionate marine biologist, science communicator, and a driving force behind Incredible Oceans. This is a platform taking science education far beyond the traditional classroom walls. With lots of public engagement experience across music festivals, TV, and radio, Russell knows exactly what ingredients make a presentation unforgettable.
Together, Sarah and Russell have joined forces to launch re-conference, a brand-new service dedicated to radically redesigning conferences so they are genuinely worthwhile, accessible, and enjoyable for everyone.
In This Episode, We Discuss:The true value of academic conferences (and where they fall short).
What actually makes a presentation engaging versus what kind of talks will make an audience switch off.
The philosophy behind re-conference and how we can rebuild academic events from the ground up.
What conference tropes are officially getting tossed into the Under Review Bin, never to be seen again!