New year, new opportunities and a new way of looking at diabetes advocacy. Despite being only two thirds of the way though the marathon month of January, many interesting diabetesy opportunities have appeared in my inbox. I'm flattered but I've had to decline a couple of things and in this blog post I'm going to tell you why and why you should consider saying "No, thank you" when approached to take part in conferences, webinars and anything that uses your valuable free time and precious energy.
2022 was hectic and I've no complaints. I brought on many of the diabetes related work myself and I feel happy to have helped charities and individuals directly. As I noted in my previous blog, I'll carry on doing those things but I'm pretty much at capacity for volunteering and supporting. There are only so many hours in a day and like most, I must value my time and energy.
2023 has started in a similar hectic fashion and that's fantastic because I love doing the various things that I do. One very flattering and interesting opportunity arrived in my inbox around 10 days ago. At the time, I was being terribly ill and I was simply unable to respond to messages and emails until I'd properly recovered. The opportunity was to chair and introduce a lecture at a conference here in the UK later this year. I don't really consider myself to be a speaker although I have given talks and I do have a very vocal presence on the Internet. So, it was lovely to be suggested for that role. The conference organisers made contact and offered further detail which included the event location - approx 4 hours away, by train, from where I live (an 8 hour round trip). I don't mind travelling at all, sitting still and doing nothing for hours on end is my favourite thing. However, 8 hours of travel is a lot and this particular trip would likely need me to spend a night in a hotel. Travel and accommodation is something most conference attendees need to consider - a very normal thing. In addition to that travel time, accommodation and costs, there must be a consideration of prep time for the chairing of the lecture and introductions alongside the time spent at the conference and lecture on the day.
Let's look at what time might be used up so far; 8 hours of travel (probably 9 hours if travelling to train stations is factored in), an overnight stay in a hotel (approx 12 hours), a day at the conference and lecture (approx 8 hours) and time to prep' for chairing and introducing (2 - 3 hours). Overall, the whole thing would likely take up a day and a half of my time. Let's call it a little less, 30 hours to make life easier.
If you are in employment, 30 hours of work on a low wage will result in £200 - £300 being paid to you. You might pay for your own travel to work, of course but that's unlikely to be an 8 hour round trip commute. If it is, then huge respect to you and I imagine your salary is far higher than the low wage example above.
The conference in question is organised by a charity and one that I have supported previously via fund raising. When a diabetes charity asks me to do something, I will nearly always agree and do it for free. So, it was no surprise to learn that for chairing and introducing the lecture I would not be paid. What was a surprise? None of my travel and accommodation costs would be covered, not a penny. Those costs would likely run to a couple of hundred pounds. The conference organiser offered access to the conference on the day of the lecture and access to the welcome event as recompense.
You may have guessed which conference and charity I am referring to by now. The event is for HCPs. Attendees often have their costs, including event ticket costs, covered by their authority or by a commercial diabetes organisation sponsor. While I have contacts in several commercial diabetes orgs, I don't feel inclined to ask any of them to cover my costs for such an event and the chair role asked of me - there is simply no upside for any of them.
And, sadly, clearly, there is no upside for me. Much as I'd love to help the very kind person who put me forward for the role and as much as I love to help diabetes charities, it would be much to my financial detriment to pay for all my own costs alongside losing a day and a half of working hours. I declined the offer and it made me very sad to do so. It also made me very reflective of the use... maybe the using... of diabetes advocates and any diabetic who is keen to tell their story.
There are many fabulous events throughout the year. Some are aimed at diabetes folk, some for HCPs, some a happy mix of the two. A commercially run event should be covering the costs of speakers, chairs, pretty much anybody who brings content to the stage - They should really be paying those individuals, too. Charity events and events created for the benefit of diabetics, in particular those which are free to enter, should probably just offer to cover travel and accommodation costs of anybody standing on the stage unless there is absolutely no budget.
No budget might be the case for many events and the organisers of those should be congratulated for bringing value to and awareness of the diabetes world. In the case of the conference above, the one I have declined to attend, chair and intro at, well, I'm very aware of the financials.
So, if you're asked to do something for a diabetes charity then I encourage you to value yourself, your time and definitely any costs that you might incur. You might dig deeper and check balance sheets *shrug* just saying.
Just before I sign off, for clarity; I am a big supporter of many diabetes charities and I will remain so, especially the smaller ones such as Action4Diabetes. I encourage you all to do what you can to help your peers through charitable work.
No comments:
Post a Comment