Curious Minds Conference

The Curious Minds Conference was born simply out of a desire to create something that would have the opportunity to last beyond graduation. The goal was to organize an event that would be meaningful to the students and faculty who attend it and inspire at least some kind of action for those individuals. The idea of a multidisciplinary conference fit those criteria well.

The organization for the event was straightforward. All that was required was a cohesive visual identity, and of course speakers. Creating the logotype did take some time, as finding a way to visualize the ideals of the conference was not as straightforward as one would think. Inspiration was taken from the lightbulb, which has always represented ideas thanks to the cartoons we all grew up with. As a callback to the Curious Minds marketing campaign for USAO, the logo blended a brain in to create a whimsical asset that was suited to market this event and what it stood for. 

Of course, the important part of the event was the speakers themselves. The goal was to feature ideas that had not necessarily been presented before, from a variety of people from across campus. There were challenges in this area, as finding individuals who both wanted to speak and were available to do so were few and far between. At first, there was an open call for proposals on campus, asking for students, faculty, and staff to come speak at the event. Due to time constraints, specific individuals were then asked to present their work at the event. With their cooperation, and an approved facility request, the Conference was ready!

When thinking about advice for upcoming students who are about to plan their event, the most important thing to keep in mind is efficiency; work smarter, not harder. Organizing events can be a time-consuming process, so the best question to ask is “what is the most efficient way to do this”, keeping in mind that quality should never be sacrificed in an effort to save time. 

The speakers at the conference were excellent, and on a personal note it was truly gratifying to hear from professors and fellow students about what they were working. One of the results from the event was the exploration of a research endorsement, that later became my senior thesis.

As a postscript I would like to link my senior thesis, which was a direct result of this conference. USAO also prodced a video that offers further insights into the event, linked here.