(posted on behalf of @Asif Kanan)
It was my first AOM. I attended every relevant session coupled with networking and social events because, as I was told, the purpose of going to conferences was meeting people and networking. Like any field, academia requires us to meet new people, seek help, extend cooperation, and even be reasonably yet politely critical during presentations, perhaps more so than in many other careers. We are in the industry of ideas, and there is no exchange of ideas without reaching out to strangers.
However, as if being an international student with imposter syndrome wasn’t enough, there I was—standing in the corner of a hall, ...