MiWCA 2023: A chill conference perfect for first-time presenters
By Monique Yoder
I got the opportunity to present “Be curious! Writing center research curiosities” at the Michigan Writing Centers Association (MiWCA) annual conference, which took place at Grand Valley State University on October 28, 2023. This was my first time presenting at a writing center conference. I didn’t quite know what to expect or how to prepare, so I relied on advice from WC consultants and admin who have had more experience with these types of conferences to get me through to the presentation podium.
The first time I ever presented at an annual conference was when I was an English major in my undergrad. I presented some poetry and non-fiction writing at the Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society annual conferences in Daytona and Kansas City. Now, as a graduate student, I almost exclusively attend applied linguistics conferences, where I present on topics related to language assessment development, second language writing pedagogy, and language testing professionalization. As far as conferences go, MiWCA 2023 was unlike any other conference I’ve attended. In a good way!
What I liked about facilitating a 50-minute roundtable session at MiWCA was the amount of time dedicated to discussing a topic. Most of the conferences I attend are designed for people to showcase and share empirical research they’re working on. The individual presentations are typically a 20-minute presentation + 10-minute Q&A format. This doesn’t give much time for genuine discussion on a topic. But for a roundtable discussion at MiWCA, I gave a ten-minute overview presentation on the story-telling and evidenced-based practice research paradigms within writing center-related research. This provided session attendees some background information on what types and kinds of research are possible. This came in handy during small group discussions when I invited attendees to take 10 minutes per question to discuss: What should count as research in writing center-related research? What research curiosities do you have in your writing center(s)? How might institutions support writing center research? Imagine! Attendees and I had a solid 35 minutes to explore ideas, share lived experiences, and wrap things up with some points on how to keep the conversation going. I’ve never experienced this before!
I also didn’t expect folks from the UP to be at the conference since it’s a solid seven-hour drive from Marquette to Grand Rapids. Northern Michigan University is my alma mater, and so it was nice to catch up with a former professor and meet NMU’s writing center admin and undergrad peer tutors. NMU didn’t have a writing center when I was there, and so it’s great to see such a center exist and thriving.
In short, MiWCA 2023 is a chill conference, which is perfect for first-time presenters! The MiWCA collective is a very welcoming group of people, and no topic is too small to discuss! If you’ve got a consultation approach or technique that you want to showcase and share, consider presenting at MiWCA 2024 next October! The conference will take place at Lansing Community College, so you don’t have to worry about traveling a long distance to present.
Feel free to contact me, as Research Coordinator, to talk about any presentation ideas you have for any writing center conference, not just MiWCA. I’m happy to set up a consultation with you to talk through presentation types and writing up conference proposal abstracts.
