Keeping Scientists Connected and Engaged

COMPASS is composed of four subcommittees. The social subcommittee is focused on promoting interactions among scientists at the annual meeting and throughout the year. Our team strives to keep members connected, involved, and interactive. We are dedicated to improving communication, fostering professional and social relationships, and expanding the ASCB network. Indeed, one of the best aspects of ASCB is networking. The social subcommittee has lots of projects in the works and a few creative ideas in the pipeline to boost your networking potential.

One of our biggest current endeavors is the Annual Meeting Buddy Program. This program aims to partner up first-time meeting attendees with more experienced ASCB mentors (Interested in being a mentor? Sign up here). For a newbie, the number of posters and events at the meeting can seem overwhelming, so mentors have the opportunity to walk their buddy through the program and explain how to get the most out of the meeting. Furthermore, this is a great way to network and promote new connections between experienced mentors and first-time meeting attendees. We hope that experienced members will participate in this program and help guide first-timers through the meeting.

Another big push for our subcommittee is to promote and expand the ASCB presence in social media. We will be contributing to the ASCB on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and Pinterest. We will post a wide range of material from informational tips on careers to beautiful cellular images to silly cell biology jokes. Whether you’re looking for the latest meeting news, interesting findings in the field, or just trying to procrastinate for a few minutes, stay connected with ASCB social media!

Additionally, we’re also working on including a networking event at the Annual Meeting. We will be providing a casual atmosphere to meet and connect with scientists in a similar field of interest at the Career Center. However, our efforts are not limited to providing networking opportunities during the ASCB Annual Meeting. We will also be introducing year-round science discussion tables in an online format. So stay tuned!

Though we are busy and excited with these projects, we don’t want to limit our subcommittee’s goals. We want to hear from YOU, so please email us if you have any ideas or suggestions to promote social interactions among ASCB members. We look forward to setting up these programs and coming up with new opportunities for scientists to meet and connect. Most importantly, none of these are possible without your input and involvement, so we look forward to all feedback!