Last week I participated in the 50th anniversary conference of the British Society of Gerontology and what a week it was…
It all started in December 2020 when an invitation was extended by the Centre for Ageing Research (fondly known as C4AR) at Lancaster University to other departments to join the centre’s student forum. I didn’t hesitate and joined up. On the last Friday of each month I enjoyed an hour listening to speakers on a variety of topics related to engaging, chatting in breakout rooms with fellow students sharing thoughts on each others’ research and becoming a community. I felt at home. In April, the session included an introduction to the C4AR research panel, a group of people interested in helping researchers at C4AR by participating in their projects. You must be 55 or over and in good health to be on the panel… Hmmm, this was interesting, perhaps the panel members might be interested in piloting my survey? As it happened they were, I received robust and valuable responses from 46 panel members in less than a week and recently reflected on the experience.
In January 2021, I received the best mark of my programme modules for my study that involved collecting data from young people who supported older family members with digital communications during the spring 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. Around the same time I became aware of the 50th anniversary conference of the British Society of Gerontology to be hosted by Lancaster University online in July. I wondered if my module paper would be good enough to be considered for the conference and then I noticed something – a pre-conference event for Emerging Researchers in Ageing (ERA). This felt like a safer option and I duly sent off my abstract. In the intervening months I attended a few online events hosted by ERA and benefitted from each experience in some way. One webinar that stood out for me was a masterclass on writing for publication with Professor Athina Vlachantoni from the University of Southampton who offered a ton of practical advice. Wise words indeed since Athina is also Deputy Editor of the journal Ageing & Society.
In March, members of the C4AR student forum were invited to assist with delivery of the conference programme. I signed up without hesitation, not quite sure what I was signing up for but happy to help. In the months that followed I had some insight into the huge effort involved in hosting a conference, with the added challenge of being fully online. Fast forward to conference week and from my position as co-chair (or spare chair!) it all worked wonderfully and is testament to the effort of all those involved.
Soon, I will be a fully paid up member of BSG and looking forward to participating in ERA and Technology and Ageing special interest group. Did I mention my PhD research study? As a result of attending #BSG2021 I have met many researchers, and admit that I was unfamiliar with the work of most. This has now changed of course. A big shout out to Deborah Morgan and Martin Hyde for their specific assistance and generosity. I have reached out to others of you whose work is definitely of interest to me and there are a few more of you on my list…
My slide show with recorded audio from the ERA 5-minute presentation is available here, another step along my pathway to PhD. The presentation is available until 12 August, 2021 for anyone interested.
Over 30 years on from my undergraduate degree specialising in social research, I am finally becoming a social researcher, I belong to social gerontology, I aspire to be a social gerontologist.
Until next time, Sandra
Featured image courtesy of Dr Gary Christopher on Twitter whose tweet summed up the week for me. Looking forward already to #BSG2022 being hosted by Gary and the team at the University of the West of England, Bristol. Don’t forget to schedule in a Gerontopets session!
Sandra Flynn 