RUME 27
2025
Alexandria, Virginia
Why Are YOU in the RUME?
Page: 371
In this study we explored the intended outcomes that participants in the SIGMAA on RUME conference had for their conference participation. We conducted in-person, semi-structured interviews at the 2024 RUME Conference and engaging in thematic analysis to arrive at three broad categories of intended outcomes. People intended to achieve specific career-oriented goals such as ‘gaining a line on a CV’ and research-oriented goals such as getting feedback on their work. Finally, participants expressed multiple personal outcomes driven by their sense of the RUME participants as a community that they enjoy being part of. In addition, we found aspects of the conference and community that both support and inhibited the participants in their pursuit of their intended outcomes. The analog to the perception of a strong community is that participants find it difficult to become part of the intellectual and social conversations.