Conference and informal meet-ups

Report and pictures by members of the CYGNA network on conference and other informal meet-ups

Anne-Wil Harzing - Fri 24 Nov 2023 11:59 (updated Sat 21 Dec 2024 11:48)

Not every conference or informal meet-up has been written up, but for those that were, this page is a repository. You can find information on how to organise a conference meet-up on our Frequently asked questions page here: Can anyone organise a conference meet-up?

EIBA 2024 Helsinki

We had a wonderful time at EIBA 2024 in Espoo, Finland, with 20 CYGNA members (and prospects) joining the informal meet-ups. Despite our swans being busy with various conference activities, we found several moments to connect—over lunch, dinner, coffee, the Welcome Reception, and the Gala Dinner (see above).

To foster a sense of togetherness and maintain instant connection, we created a WhatsApp group where members shared practical tips and photos, as well as celebrated each other’s successes, like our panel discussion, Danielle and her co-author’s Best Track Paper Award, Natalie and her co-authors winning the award for Best Paper of the Conference (below, middle left), and Natalie’s birthday on Dec 15!

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed each other’s company. These interactive moments helped us feel that “we’re here together”, unless some members needed quiet time to prepare presentations or focus on individual work. Carole’s hilarious and heartfelt text beautifully encapsulated the spirit of our informal meet-up :')

Inaugural Argyro Avgoustaki, ESCP London, 2024

On a late November evening a group of CYGNA members gathered to support Argyro Avgoustaki at her inaugural lecture at ESCP London. Argyro provided us with a whirlwind overview of her impressive and fascinating research journey. It was a very cold evening, but Argyro's reflections about her research, CYGNA and the Power of Words in academia warmed everyone's heart.

Five of us (Aarti, Anne-Wil, Christa, Sarah and Ramona) also had a lovely eary dinner in West Hampstead at Banana Tree, but we completely forgot to take pictures. :-(

British Academy of Management 2024 Nottingham

From the left: Elizbeth Anna Güenther (University of Vienna), Zeina Mohamed (Coventry University), Maureen Meadows (Coventry University), Deirdre Anderson (Cranfield School of Management), & Nada Elnahla (Maynooth University).

The British Academy of Management (BAM) 2024 conference provided a great opportunity for SWANS to connect. After coordinating via email and setting up a WhatsApp group specifically for the event, we made several attempts to meet. Finally, during the last coffee break in the conference, we managed to get together—and even welcomed a new SWAN into the group!

Academy of Management 2024 Chicago

Over 20 Swans attended the Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Chicago in August 2024. To cater for different schedules of Swans who belong to different divisions, this year we offered a portfolio of different activities, ranging from going together to division socials, to an ice-cream in the park, riding a Ferris wheel and a visit to a museum. It was wonderful to catch up in person!

A dedicated WhatsApp group allowed us to keep in touch and share tips on preparing for the conference. The feedback from the Swans who attended AOM suggests that first-time conference attendees have found these tips particularly useful, so thank you to everyone who contributed with their experiences.

EURAM 2024 Bath

[A really nice A4 PDF memento created by Luísa is downloadable here]

Now that fall has arrived (at least in the northern hemisphere), it feels like the perfect time to reflect on the wonderful memories from the 24th EURAM Annual Conference in Bath with our Cygna sisters. The conference offered an amazing opportunity to reconnect with old friends, make new ones, and exchange exciting research ideas and projects—all while enjoying the majestic beauty of Bath.

It was a privilege to network with fellow doctoral candidates and meet pioneering scholars whose work we’ve long admired. The experience of being in Bath, with its rich history and charm, made EURAM 2024 a truly unforgettable event.

This gathering was also a meaningful moment to focus on nurturing the growth of new members, ensuring the future of our community remains bright. Looking back, the photos are heartwarming, capturing the spirit of camaraderie and collaboration we shared. We can’t wait to see what comes next!

EIBA 2023 Lisbon

EIBA 2023 in Lisbon was well attended by CYGNA members and we have been very active there. We chaired sessions, and supported doctoral events and post-conference workshops. We also took care of each other, sometimes by supportive presence during CYGNA members’ talks and presentations, or by just keeping each other company during awkward moments (part of every conference), such as for example a conference dinner.

There were many informal meetings, and no one had to be alone in the evenings, unless for example they needed to finish a presentation for the next day or talk over WhatsApp with kids at home. A more formal meetup was organised on Sunday evening in the Café of the Bertrand bookshop, the world’s oldest functioning bookshop according to the Guinness World Records (see the picture above).

We had nice chats, exchanged experiences from the conference and offered support and advice when needed, all over lovely Portuguese wine, coffee and cakes. It was truly a great pleasure to work and have fun together during the conference. It resulted not only in nice memories, but also in new friendships and research collaborations.

Academy of Management 2023 Boston

A more extensive write-up is here: CYGNA meet-up at AoM 2023 in Boston

Over 20 Swans attended the Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Boston. AOM is not an easy conference at which to organise a meet-up, because Swans belong to and attend different division activities at different hotels around the city.

However, we still managed to have an active WhatsApp group that allowed us to keep in touch, and thanks to the persistence of Tatiana Andreeva, we finally found a slot to meet and have dinner together.

WAIB Panel at AIB-UKI 2023 Glasgow

Ciara O'Higgins and Shasha Zhao represented CYGNA at the AIB UK and Ireland Chapter conference WAIB and CYGNA held a joint panel on the topic of networking within academia and with other stakeholders (e.g. managers, companies and policy makers).

Each of the panelists (Maria Ilieva, Ciara O’Higgins, Shasha Zhao and Margaret Fletcher) shared their stories and experience networking in different ways that best align with our personalities; and the panel concluded with an interesting discussion about how to reach out to different types of stakeholders including NGOs.

EIBA 2021 Madrid

A more extensive write-up is here: CYGNA @EIBA Madrid 2021

Ciara O’Higgins, Inés Escobar, Madeleine Raupp, Elena Poliakova and Paula Erthal

After two years of online conferences, it was a great opportunity to meet colleagues again at the 47th Edition of the EIBA Annual Conference, organised at the Universidad Complutense, in Madrid from the 10th to the 12th of December 2021.

Nevertheless, after such a long time, and with COVID contagion numbers rising all over Europe, the prospect of attending an in-person conference was a bit daunting. Some CYGNA members were attending EIBA for the first time, but even for those who are experienced conference-goers, entering a packed room alone can be quite intimidating. With this in mind, CYGNA sisters attending EIBA decided to connect beforehand, create a WhatsApp phone group to reach out and meet up as the conference progressed.

And so the conference unfolded…. On the first night, after the Plenary Opening Session, conference attendees gathered at the Welcome Cocktail (see picture above), and several CYGNA members who had never met before managed to meet up. It was great fun and ties were created for the rest of the weekend!

EIBA 2019 Leeds

A more extensive write-up is here: EIBA Leeds: IB in a Confused World Order

This conference featured our first CYGNA dinner. Although CYGNA members had held a panel at a conference before (see WAIB Panel: Academic career strategies for women in the UK) and we have organized a writing bootcamp at Middlesex University to celebrate our 5-year anniversary, we had never organized a conference dinner before.

So when we noticed that there were no events on the program for Saturday evening we suggested a CYGNA dinner. We rapidly accumulated 15 interested swans (see picture above) for a wonderful dinner at the Indian Tiffin Room. Everyone agreed it should become a conference tradition.

WAIB Panel at AIB-UKI 2018 Birmingham

An more extensive write-up is here: WAIB Panel: Academic career strategies for women in the UK.

Fiona Moore, one of our loyal CYGNA members, organized a panel on acacemic career strategies for women at the Birmingham AIB-UKI conference on behalf of WAIB: Women in the Academy of International Business. Although similar panels have occurred at the "World" AIB conference, as far as we know this was the first time a panel like this featured at the AIB-UKI conference.

Expertly chaired by Fiona, the panel started with brief introductions in which we all told a potted history of our career trajectory. It turned out that none of us had had a particularly smooth career. In the main part of the panel, we each presented on a particular aspect of academic career strategies.

About Cygna - Background on the CYGNA network
Quick overview - Overview of presentations in our meetings with linked slidedecks
Meetings - Information about forthcoming CYGNA meetings, and links to prior years
Membership - Information for and about the Cygna network membership
Readings and inspirations - Inspirational readings and resources for female academics
The Cygna charter - Documents our CYGNA charter
Cygna videos - Repository of introduction videos of our new CYGNA coordination team
Cygna history - Tracing the history of our network since 2014, includes links to all of our meetings
Frequently asked questions - Everything you may want to know about the CYGNA network and more
The SWAN project - Initiated by Christa Sathish and Clarice Santos and implemented by Jacqueline Leon Ribas, this project created two swans reflecting CYGNA’s equal, inclusive, collective identity and the diversity of the network and its members
Conference meet-ups - Provides brief write-ups of CYGNA conference meet-ups
10-year Anniversary event - Programme page for our 10-year anniversary event
International Women's Day - Our collection of posts for international women's day
CYG: Teaching & Scholarship Research - Our first CYG = SIG = Special Interest Group
CYG: Career stage CYGs - Introductory page for our new career stage CYGs
Cygna Writes - Introductory page for our new CYGNA Writes initiative - Writing in Community, Achieving in Silence
Cygna Collaborations - Reports on some of the many collaborations our swans have engaged in across the CYGNA network