In my previous post, I mentioned that I would have more information about the Graduate and Early Career Committee’s offerings at the annual meeting in Chicago. If you are planning to join us for the annual meeting, I hope you will take advantage of some of the events we have organized for graduate students and early career professionals.

Orientation
On the very first day of the conference, we are sponsoring two events. The first of these is an orientation session for first-time meeting attendees. This session is designed to answer questions for those who have never before been to an annual meeting. The orientation will start at 4 p.m. in the Sheraton’s Missouri Room. If you can’t make it to the orientation, I highly recommend Elise Lipkowitz’s recent blog post on “what to do” at the annual meeting.

Reception
The second event is a reception for graduate students. In response to requests at the open forum at the Boston annual meeting, this reception has been moved from Friday night to Thursday night. This should allow people to make networking connections that can lead to more contact during the remainder of the annual meeting. Please come to the Sheraton’s Mayfair Room at 5 p.m. to meet your colleagues at the same stage of their careers in the profession. We are planning to make the format of the reception more conducive to networking, and we hope that you will take advantage of the offerings.

Sessions
GECC is sponsoring or co-sponsoring a number of sessions during the course of the meeting, all of which have value for people new to the profession. A complete list is available on the annual meeting web site.

Open Forum
Finally, don’t forget that the GECC sponsors an open forum for all AHA members who are graduate students and early career professionals. While we won’t be able to solve all your problems during the open forum, we will listen and share what solutions we can. Please come to the Sheraton’s Colorado Room on Friday at 5:30 p.m. to join in the festivities.

I look forward to meeting you in Chicago!

This post first appeared on AHA Today.