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Is Attending a CS Conference Worth the Time?
An Anonymous Coward writes"Hello Slashdot readers, I am a CS student nearing graduation and i had a couple of questions. One of my professors is recommending submitting a paper to the CCSC (consortium of computing sciences in colleges) in Utah this year for a chance to have my work published in a journal. I realize the value in having thesis work published but i don't really have the money to travel to Utah and stay for two nights. So i guess i am wondering, has anyone ever attended a conference of this nature and if so was it worth the time and money?"
apply for travel funding? i got a small travel grant from the royal sociaty in london to travel to a physics conference, they must have similar organisations in the US?
conferences are a great way to find out if what you are doing is worth anything, and for seeing what other people are doing thats similar to you, great place to meet people and learn new things.
I'm not in CS, but I agree with MrEricSir. Not only is presenting at a conference a big confidence booster, but it can also open up a lot of doors for you if you impress the right folks with your presentation. I watched a colleague present a paper at a conference last year only to seem him be approached afterwards by no less than three different people giving him contact information for potential job opportunities in the non-profit international law sector.
Again, that's a pretty long way from CS, but it's probably more common than you think.
Find the money and go to Utah. Maybe try to find a pertinent mailing list and see if there are other people who're in a similar boat who'd like to split the cost of a room with you. Depending on how big the conference is, it might be fairly easy to find someone.
"Cut word lines. Cut music lines. Smash the control images. Smash the control machine." - William S. Burroughs
If you get the chance to go to a big, fancy conference in an area that actually interests and inspires you, then you should definitely take it. I went to SIGGRAPH as an undergrad when I was vaguely interested in computer graphics (before starting grad school in the same field) and it was an awesome experience, both the technical presentations AND the social aspect. I hung out with old classmates, new classmates, and went to parties at swanky clubs exclusively for the conference attendees (none of those regular-people riff-raff)... It definitely solidified my interest in graphics and grad school.
Honestly, though, this CCSC conference looks kind of boring. Is it education related? I can hardly tell. I'd worry that it is too vague/too general and if you went, you'd risk not actually being interested in anything anyone said. Make sure you care at least a little bit about what the conference is actually about, and then yes! Go and meet people and have a good time! The point of a conference is to meet people interested in the same stuff as you.
Additional point: If you intend to apply to grad school, having work published anywhere helps these days.
If you feel that after reviewing the schedule for the conference that it has topics that you would be interested in, you should seriously consider attending.
Not to nitpick, but if this student is deciding whether to submit a paper, he won't have a real schedule, yet. He'll only have the call for papers, which is what he is using to determine if his own paper is suitable for the conference. No information on actual talks. Looking at information (titles and maybe abstracts) from previous conferences could be more telling. Here is a list of published journal editions of the CCSC. (I gather that the articles in these journals are selected from papers presented at conferences of CCSC.) They might give a good idea of what goes on.
Personally, I think that conferences are a lot of fun. I would definitely recommend going. Absolutely do try to get something accepted, and if it is, your department might be willing to pay some of your expenses. (But only if you are presenting, generally.)
BTW, a conference publication isn't considered a "journal" publication, and doesn't confer the same status.
In most of CS, conference publications are actually more prestigious than journals. Top conferences such as PLDI, OOPSLA/Splash, Usenix ATC, ICSE and so on are highly selective, difficult to get into, and look very good on your CV (if you're pursuing an academic career). By contrast, journal articles tend to be published almost as an afterthought, years after anybody still cared about the research in question.
I have got all my jobs after my PhD from people i meet at conferences. I didn't kiss arse, i was "me" both with respect to the social activities and the professional talks/work. I know my field so when i meet people I generally know what they have done, otherwise i just ask and we talk "shop". It is not hard to work out who will be a good boss and who will not, if what they work on is interesting or not. Also they quickly work out if you are going to be a good post doc or not.
Now when you apply for a position you are not just a name on a pile. It really makes a big difference.
The Grey Goo disaster happened 3 billion years ago. This rock is covered in self replicating machines!
BTW, a conference publication isn't considered a "journal" publication, and doesn't confer the same status. Conferences are where the work gets done: people present developing ideas and get feedback on them.
Not in CS. In Computer Science, it is far harder, traditionally, to get a submission accepted for presentation at a conference, along with later publication in the proceedings, than it is to get a submission in a journal.
Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
All that negative stuff said, you need to start somewhere, and always have to work with the resources and opportunities actually available to you. The conference experience itself can still be useful---as many here have posted the main point is to meet other researchers and gain experience in writing and presenting a paper. If you want a future career in academia, (almost) any publication is better than no publication.
I don't know what common practice is in your university; places where research is actually done have funding to pay expenses for students attending conferences. Given the audience for CCSC that's probably not true there, so then yes, it's on your own nickel. nb: Don't get your hopes up too much; I seriously doubt google would be actively recruiting at CCSE.
At the very, very most submit your paper. You can still decide not to go...
Do not do that. That's how you gain a reputation as an idiot. If you submit a paper you should absolutely be committed to going.