USEFUL INFORMATION
The Boston Area’s Top Local Attractions
(Please note: All descriptions have been taken from the organizations’ websites.)
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS), part of the Colleges of the Fenway’s Suggestions.
Remember: Going out to an evening event or for a meal with a new person from the Conference is a great way to network. Besides the cafés at each of the Colleges of the Fenway. Here you will find a list of restaurants and activities located in the Fenway area.
Before the Conference:
Read about why it is important to attend such Conferences.
If you have any special needs we should know about, please notify us (by email at Conference@transculturalexchange.org) no later than 2 weeks prior to the conference.
Register early to receive the lowest rates. If you are a student or teacher, you might also want to check with your school to see if they offer professional development funds to help defray the Conference’s costs. Some state arts councils, such as California’s, also offer funding for you to attend such Conferences.
Sign on to TransCultural Exchange’s social media pages, including our Facebook page, LinkedIn account and listserv in the footer to receive the latest news about the Conference.
Check out information about Boston’s public transportation system, restaurants, attractions, and accommodations. If you are worried about the costs of accommodations in Boston, consider airbnb or sharing a suite with friends at The Revolution Hotel.
Familiarize yourself with the Conference panel locations and how to get there.
Maps for all the locations are available in August 2022. Public transportation maps and schedules can be found here.
Start looking over the schedule and list of presenters to carefully plan what sessions, workshops, tours, talks and portfolio reviews that you want to attend. (Please note that to keep the registration/website set-up costs affordable for the portfolio reviews, all the reviewers’ bios can be found on the presenters’ pages – not on the registration pages.)
Plan to network – and not just with the speakers! We suggest that you try to meet at least 2 new people a day. Many of your fellow attendees have shown extensively, been to residencies and are attending the Conference to meet new people, share and learn; so be sure to bring business cards. Also come armed with postcards of your work for the attendee table in the Exhibitors Hall. (There will be one, unmanned tabled in the Exhibitors Hall for attendees to leave postcards and flyers. This is the only place where such materials can be left. They must, however, be picked up by the Conference’s end; otherwise, they will be discarded. Neither TransCultural Exchange nor Boston University can take responsibility for storing these materials before or after the Conference.)
Consider an ad in the Conference brochure (more info), if you want an even more visible presence at the Conference. Also, if you are an artist who offers a service to other artists – such as studio assistance, programming, website development, fabrication, etc. – you might also want to consider being listed on our artists resource pages or offering a workshop at a future Conference.
Prepare for your portfolio review. These sessions are set-up for you to show your work and receive feedback from another professional in the field. To do so, you will need some way of presenting your work to them. For instance, you could bring prints or a laptop. (Please note that you must bring your own laptop. There will be no additional ones for use during these reviews. Internet access will be available; but we highly recommend that you already have your work downloaded onto your laptop in the rare case that the internet service goes down during your review.)
Pack warm clothes. (Boston can be quite cold in the Fall and the weather is quite change-able.) Also be sure to take in your hand luggage the map to your hotel and the Conference site.
During the Conference.
Pick up your Registration Materials First. Your registration materials will include a Conference brochure (which includes a full conference schedule and maps), sponsor handouts and your Conference badge. Keep track of your Conference badge. Your badge (or a college that is part of the Colleges of the Fenway ID) admits you into all the panels and sessions. If you lose it, there is a $35 charge for a replacement badge! Also, if you registered as a student or at any other special discount rate, you must present a valid ID to confirm your reduced registration status.
Arrive in plenty of time. Sessions typically start on time; and on the first day, you can expect a line at the registration desks to pick up your Conference materials. Therefore, we suggest arriving 30 minutes before your first session. Please be patient; this is a particularly stressful time for those manning the registration tables.
Access WiFi information will be available onsite and at the Conference registration desk.
Stay hydrated. In the back of most of the panel rooms are pitchers of water; but you might want to consider bringing your own bottled water. Coffee will also be available at the beginning of each day. During the day, the Massachusetts College of Art and Design’s cafe’s is also open; and the Gardner Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts are within a short 5-minute walk away. Both have restaurants.
Charge your laptop and phone every night; but don’t forget to silence it during the sessions.
Allow enough travel time. To be safe, you should plan 30-45 minutes to travel from any of the Colleges of the Fenway to any of the Cambridge sites (MIT or Harvard). Maps and locations for all the Conference sites are available here. Public transit maps and schedules are available here.
Ask questions. Each panel will have a question and answer period at the end. Please write down your question in advance and don’t forget to introduce yourself before you ask your question so people will remember you.
Exchange notes. There are a lot of sessions going on at the same time. In order to not miss any valuable information, we suggest that you partner with another attendee to attend different sessions and to exchange notes afterwards. This is a great way to make a new friend as well.
After the Conference.
Keep in touch. Follow up with your contacts. Let them know you’d like to stay in touch. Many of our past Conference goers have made long-time friendships and are now exhibiting and traveling together.
Give us feedback. Let us know what you think. Please complete the post-Conference survey. For this Conference to continue we must show the funders that artists find it useful. Quotes and feedback from attendees are always needed to ensure we can successfully argue the importance of keeping these Conferences going. We also are interested in promoting your ‘success story’ on our website so others can benefit from your first-hand knowledge.
Spread the word. If you had a great time, please let others know.
Prepare a Presentation for the Next Conference. Guidelines are usually posted a year in advance.