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[aristotelian]

Wow, I cannot think of a situation in which I would need to go to a conference badly enough to pay for it out of pocket (unless it was in my home city).  Then again i have been lucky to have my travel mostly covered by my employer with very few limits.  Still, I would rather stay home than pay for it myself. 

[glowdart]

I think the sciences fields can write conference expenses into grants, but I've never heard of anyone in an MLA field getting grant money for conferences--unless they're, say, the keynote speaker.  Or am I missing something, fellow humanists?

Not that I've ever heard of (at least not for regular humanities work.)  I do have some friends doing an interdisciplinary study who managed to get funding to present their research, but that funding came through someplace like (but not) the NSF.

I would hug and kiss anyone who could point us towards contrary information, however. 

[obprof]

Some conferences have travel funds available to those who apply for them. You can always contact the organizer and explain the situation. Normally, the funds are set aside for students and early-career researchers who do not have other sources of funding.

In exchange, you may be asked to help with the registration or something similar.

[eng_prof]

I have never paid out of pocket for a conference. I don't think I would ever do that either.

Don't you have some kind of travel award at the University level? Mine has one specialy for international travel even though it is not easy for somewhat senior faculty. As for an early TT faculty  member it is really easy and typically funded at the 100% level. 

[normative_]

I have a research budget that pays for books, conferences and other such expenses. If I use that up, I'm on my own. The rest is pretty much as Larryc said.

[profxfiles]

We HAD received funding for roughly two domestic conferences a year from the university, but the latest round of budget cuts eliminated ALL travel funding except for junior faculty. I committed to two conferences this year before the cuts came through, so I will be paying my own way this time. Next year I will not even apply to a conference unless I get one of my outstanding grants approved or the cuts are rescinded (fat chance...)

[hmaria1609]

While I was at ALA Annual in July,  I heard fellow public librarians from other states who said this was their last conference for some time because of budget constraints.  My public library paid for my conference trip; I've yet to hear about a reduction in conference allotments.  Other workshops I've attended have been free or at a reduced rate.

[dept_geek]

We get a little money if we present at the conference. If you are going for any other reason - too bad. You pay the whole thing.  The little presenter money usually covers registration and not much else.  Oh well.  I pay for these things because I like going and catching up with friends, meeting new people, and learning new things.

[sad_goat]

Just curious, but in general, are these conferences important enough to your brain/career to pony-up the cash? I haven't been able to attend any, but want to. As an adjunct, it will of course be on my dime. What are the real advantages?

[neutralname]

I'm curious about this grant writing in the humanities and/or social sciences that will help pay for conference travel.  I've seen a few grants listed in my humanities discipline, but they tend to go to high flyers.  Where do you even find out about these things?

I'm at the stage where I would be prepared to pay to go to a conference so long as I could keep costs down.  I'm not keen to go to a big conference with thousands of people, paying hundreds of dollars to register, in a city where all the hotel prices are jacked up to at least $200 per night because of the conference.  I am keen to go to a smallish conference with leaders in the particular focus of the conference, with low or no registration fees, especially if the town is pleasant.

[inthelab]

Just curious, but in general, are these conferences important enough to your brain/career to pony-up the cash? I haven't been able to attend any, but want to. As an adjunct, it will of course be on my dime. What are the real advantages?

What field are you talking about?  In my biomed sciences field, yes, they are very important.  Often grants/program officers attend (who have input into funding decisions), often it's a way to find collaborators, or find out about job opportunities, or find a post-doc.  Best networking opportunity I know for most of us.  Many meetings have travel awards (usually $500 to $750), which helps defray cost of attedance. 

[airball]

Our administration is painting itself into a corner on this one. They have plenty of funding for junior faculty and then nothing once you receive tenure. (This actually raises an interesting issue. I am in position to go up for tenure early, but since my raise would be about $3k, and I'd lose funding for overseas research, I don't see the up-side.)

They also recently decided that tenured people need to do more research or increase their teaching load. I have no problem with this in principle, but if the want the research they gotta pay the costs.

For what it's worth, it will be a cold day in hell before I pay money for the privilege of doing my job. What's next, rent on my office?

airball

[mignon]

I rather resent wearing a nametag that trumpets my affiliation when said school did not pay my costs.  This year, I am honoring my commitments (since I'm already on the program) at two conferences, despite the cuts that require me to pay my own way.  But next year, I won't apply to any. 

In the humanities, it's just not worth the cost/benefit analysis.  Yes, we make connections, but most of us don't get paid enough to shell out.  It also strikes me as a bit unethical for the school to encourage faculty conference presentations but not fund them. 

[bibliothecula]

As an adjunct, I always pay my own way, and boy has it paid off: I've made great connections with presses and editors and other scholars in my field. I always feel intellectually invigorated after a good conference.

[clean]

For what it's worth, it will be a cold day in hell before I pay money for the privilege of doing my job. What's next, rent on my office?

This year, I am honoring my commitments (since I'm already on the program) at two conferences, despite the cuts that require me to pay my own way.  But next year, I won't apply to any.

Your first job it to keep your job. 

In the short run not going may be financially wise, but another nugget of wisdom from a former department chair is,"You only need to publish for two reasons - to keep this job or get your next one".

So to the extent that conferences help you, then in the long run they are worth the cost.  IF they dont help, then dont go.  But IF they dont help, then you should not go no matter who is paying.  Some of this discussion seems to indicate that people are upset that their perqs have been cut, that they can no longer go to the Resort City Conference on the State's dime. 

Wages have been cut, jobs lost, and budgets cut.  That is the reality.  Pay or dont pay.  But dont forget to at least try to measure the consequences of not going.