I got an email late on a Wednesday in February asking me to let the emailer know by that Friday if I could participate in a women’s history month showcase of women’s research. See the attached letter for more details.
I opened the attached letter. It started,
Dear [friendly adjunct in another department, that is, NOT ME],
Then the letter itself didn’t say much. Like… I don’t know what they want me to do. Just that they have 24 women participating in 40 minutes and they want to spotlight “my” research and will be a huge honor for them if “I” participate. Then it repeated itself a lot over three paragraphs without providing any actual information other than the day of the event and time.
Then I looked up previous years and it looks like maybe this part is a poster presentation (with big name speakers previous to this), and, importantly, all of the research being presented is gender research. I do not have any current research on gender.
My guess is here that someone said no and I am definitely not their first choice. On the one hand I should go as a public service. On the other hand it sounds like a lot of work for no good reason. On that first hand again, it probably wouldn’t kill me to network with other women across campus. On the other hand, I don’t WANT to. (Especially if having to make a poster of an already published paper is involved! I don’t do conference posters.)
Being a woman sucks.
Grumpy Rumblings (of the formerly untenured) 
March 21, 2018 at 3:30 am
Why not just say no?
March 21, 2018 at 11:33 am
I should have done that. What I did instead was passive-aggressively reply that they’d sent the email to the wrong person. When they responded a week later apologizing profusely and saying yes I was the intended recipient I felt guilty and said ok (after trying and failing to find said adjunct to see if she was going– she said no, if I’d known I would have said no too!) I said ok because I’m not really sure if there are penalties for saying no (there often are for women) and because I felt guilty for being passive aggressive and not just saying no upfront, even though I should have. Or I should have asked if it were a poster presentation and then said I don’t do poster presentations.
My RA made a lovely poster of an already published paper. Because yes, it was a poster presentation. UGH.
March 21, 2018 at 2:13 pm
This is so painful to read, because there are so many things where I am grumpy about doing things that I should have just said no to in the first place. Then I feel guilty about grumpy, and end up resenting it more. It’s the worst cycle!
Anyway, I need a cognitive strategy for this but so far no dice.
March 21, 2018 at 3:08 pm
If you figure it out, let me know!
March 22, 2018 at 6:16 am
Ha. This is just the sort of thing I would do to myself. Condolences. It sucks.
March 21, 2018 at 9:53 am
I would say no without hesitation.
March 21, 2018 at 11:27 am
Grumble. There are merits to doing this but I hate hate hate being asked at the last minute (and anything without more than a week of notice is last minute) to do work for free. Heck, paid work at the last minute is annoying!
March 21, 2018 at 12:55 pm
Would be a definite no for me. I probably wouldn’t have even read the email in its entirety, tbh.
March 21, 2018 at 6:12 pm
Form email addressed to someone that is not me. -> Delete. You are clearly a more understanding person than I am though.
Did the event end up being beneficial?
March 21, 2018 at 6:22 pm
Hasn’t happened yet. Soon.
March 22, 2018 at 9:08 am
Hey guys, here’s an important action you can do:
(quoting from an indivisible email):
/end quote
5-calls’ script focuses on other reasons this guy is horrible: https://5calls.org/issue/oppose-howard-nielson-federal-court
March 22, 2018 at 11:03 am
I would have said no and politely explained why, e.g. misaddressed email, short notice time, lack of detail about the event, apparent lack of knowledge about your research. I would have explained that with a busy schedule it’s difficult to commit without having this information. That might help the organizers be better organized next time and get more participants.
March 22, 2018 at 12:02 pm
I think I should have asked if it was a poster presentation and then told them that I don’t do poster presentations at this stage of my career. If it were a 15 min presentation, I would have been more willing to do it as a service thing.
March 22, 2018 at 11:54 am
This sounds like the sort of thing that happens to my professional-dancer acquaintances all the time. An email or other electronic query that is clearly not personalized and is an “offer” of work but specifically work they will not get paid for, in exchange for valuable “exposure!”
Artists should never do work for free just for “exposure,” and neither should academics.
Fiona’s suggested explanation would definitely be more positive and helpful than what I would have done, which is delete without replying. :-)
March 22, 2018 at 12:02 pm
Well, this is technically my employer asking.
March 22, 2018 at 6:21 pm
Bahahaha! Oops, well then, I can understand the dilemma. But still … in that case, ESPECIALLY in that case, they ought to have had the professional courtesy to at least make it look like they wanted you specifically.