In the last blog, I talked about how the prevalence of voice-related information online has made it difficult to know which "influencers" are reliable and which may be intentionally deceptive just to get more followers. Clicks and views don't necessarily mean that what is being posted is worthwhile. I also suggested looking for "peer-reviewed" sources, which essentially means that the information was vetted by other professionals before it was given the green light to be brought to a wider audience.
I was fortunate to have participated in a major peer-reviewed conference over the last weekend right here in our backyard. The Pan American Vocology Association (PAVA) holds an annual symposium, which in recent years has been hosted in Houston, Mexico City, Seattle, Toronto, and Minneapolis, among other cities. But this year, the board of directors voted to hold the event in Salt Lake City. The symposium brings together voice professionals from the performing arts and the medical field to present interdisciplinary research, workshops, and panel discussions.
The "American" part of PAVA meant that the symposium drew people from Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Washington, DC, Wisconsin, and various parts of Canada. But the "Pan" part (a prefix meaning "all," "whole," or "universal") meant that there were also people in attendance from Australia, Germany, India, Italy, Norway, Poland, and Sweden—right here in little ol' SLC!
As a hybrid conference (with both in-person and virtual components), there were also online attendees from many of the places listed above in addition to Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Louisiana, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, as well as Costa Rica, Iran, England, Mexico, and Spain.
So, for those keeping track, that makes 39 states (plus Washington, D.C.) and 14 different countries. Not a bad turnout.
In order to present at this symposium, you have to decide which category to submit for: Research Presentation, Pedagogy Talk, Panel Discussion, Workshop, Micro-Workshop, Research Poster, or Pedagogy Poster. Then you have to submit an application (abstract) that has specific parameters for how you should describe your work. Those abstracts then go to a committee of professionals in the field with varied areas of expertise who decide whether to accept your proposal, reject your proposal, or conditionally accept your proposal pending certain changes or adjustments. This doesn't absolutely rule out any questionable ideas getting through (there are charlatans in every field), but it significantly increases the likelihood that what gets presented will be of quality since it has gone through multiple checks before receiving the thumbs up.
Now, compare that to your average TikToker. All they have to do to share their content is post it. And if it's flashy enough, or cleverly presented, it can reach a pretty wide audience pretty quickly. That doesn't mean what is being shared won't be substantive or useful—there is lots of information that is technically unvetted that is still of quality. But, once again, good media literacy should cause us to be a bit skeptical if someone online is making wide-sweeping claims without having gone through any real process of quality assurance.
That being said, check out these post-PAVA Symposium hot takes. You might see some familiar faces.
Now that we're heading into the second half of the semester, check in again on the goals you set back in August. Are you on track? Have you been consistent in your practicing? What adjustments can you make to make your practicing more effective?
Now go practice.
