さようなら、プロフェッショナル・カンファレンス。もっといい方法があります。

It is surprising that in today’s digital world, the majority of networking among researchers and industries takes place in professional conferences and conventions. According to コンベンションインダストリ、ほぼ 180万ミーティング 2009年暦年で、米国では2億500万人が参加したと推定されています。その結果、$2603億円以上の直接消費（宿泊、旅行、その他の関連活動の購入に関連する費用）が発生しました。

It is quite impossible for anybody, be it a researcher or a business person, to work in isolation. Having a strong network in your professional and personal lives is important for you to access opportunities to grow. Students, scientists, industry experts and professors meet at conferences, all seeking the same thing – expanding and strengthening their network. Most attendees have a goal in mind which they seek to achieve at the event – meeting an important person, talking their way into a research group, finding a collaborator, etc. But attending an event doesn’t it come without its own share of challenges.

1. There’s money involved 

カンファレンスに参加するには、ほとんどの場合、登録料や特定のイベントのチケットの購入が必要です。その他に、旅費、宿泊費、食費、雑費などがかかります。たとえ無料（まれ）であっても、学生割引があっても、参加費用は多くの人にとって高額になることがあります。

A study by conventionindustry.org says that “the total direct spending associated with U.S. meetings activity in 2012 is estimated at over $280 billion. Approximately $130 billion (46%)  of the direct spending in the meetings industry is on travel and tourism commodities such as lodging, food service, and transportation. The majority of direct spending, however, is not travel-related, with $150 billion or 54 percent involving meeting planning and production costs, venue rental, and other non-travel & tourism commodities…”

While reliable statistics are hard to come by, a 報告 IEEEが2007年に発表した資料によると、学会登録料の平均は$451であった。しかし、登録料は総費用の24%に過ぎず、航空券代が26%、ホテル代が24%を占めている。手頃な価格であることが、個人や組織が受けるべきガイダンスやサポートを受けられない主な制約要因となっています。

2. 時間、エネルギー、労力がかかる 

Planning for a conference can involve weeks and months of preparation. This could include getting paperwork done, researching on the people attending, writing to them and trying to fix appointments beforehand, registering for events, trying to volunteer so that you can save costs, as well as working overtime to make up for the leave you’ll take from work during the event. Attending a conference can also be mentally and physically exhausting, especially for introverted people.

リサーチ tells us that a large number of people are just plain uncomfortable with professional networking. Many times, successful networking requires people to sell themselves and make the right kind of impression. But this may not be everyone’s cup of tea –  some people may be quite reluctant to put themselves out there. Most people who do attend professional conferences do it as an unavoidable aspect of working life.

3. There is hope but there’s no certainty 

One would think that having spent so much of resources into attending an event, one would be guaranteed of a satisfactory outcome. However, often, you may have to come away disappointed from the event. Perhaps you didn’t get to meet the person you wanted to because he/she didn’t turn up last minute, perhaps there was no time. We also have to factor in any unfortunate circumstances that might prevent you from getting the best out of the event (such as a last minute emergency or an illness). While you may hope to get what you’re looking for at a conference, there is no guarantee. There’s no assurance. It’s, at the end of the day, a gamble.

ソーシャルメディアが学術界やビジネス界で普及し、世界中の研究者や業界の専門家にアクセスしやすくなっています。ある調査によると 研究 Pew Research Centreが2015年に発表した論文では、AAASの科学者の22%が、自分の研究を宣伝するためにTwitterやFacebookを使うことを信じていた。LinkedInのグループも、潜在的な共同研究者やパートナーの狩場として人気が出てきています。

It is evident that there’s a glaring lack of a digital platform that specifically helps scientists, businesses people, entrepreneurs and students connect and collaborate with each other on specific projects. If you were to look for somebody who can help you with a statistical review of your data, you might have to spend hours doing research, tracking down the right person(s) online, send a mail and hope that they will reply. And even if they do, they:

1. a) 協力する気があるのかないのか
2. b) 制限的なポリシーに縛られる可能性がある。
3. c) 予算のミスマッチがあるかもしれない。

コラブツリー は、そのような問題を解決するために、オンラインで進んで専門知識を提供する評判の高い専門家とつながることができるようにすることを目的としています。スタンフォード、ケンブリッジ、オックスフォード、マサチューセッツ工科大学などの研究者を含め、すでに世界中から2000人以上のポスドクが参加しており、専門会議に参加する際の金銭的負担を軽減することを目指しています。Kolabtreeは、特定のテーマ領域に関する迅速な支援を保証し、専門家のフリーランサーに簡単にアクセスでき、プロジェクトごとに独自の予算を選択することができます。

を持つこと。 オンラインコラボレーションプラットフォーム allows a specificity and certainty that doesn’t come from attending professional networks, where there is always some degree of ambiguity involved. Ultimately, the goal is to democratize access to research, so that more and more people benefit from it – not only scientists and industries but also individuals like you and I.