The new (calendar) year is underway and moving quick! At this time, many ECPs often think about ways to make the year better than the last, set some goals, and try to learn more along the way. One thing that can help us as we seek to accomplish our goals is to leverage our networks. However, as an ECP, it can sometimes be difficult to find opportunities to connect and funds to offset travel. The good news is that there are tons of opportunities for networking and funding, so hopefully this month’s column can help the ECP community meet each other more!

First, the ACT: Online conference is rapidly approaching, and there is a great schedule of events, speakers, and posters, some of which are by fellow ECPs! If you’re considering making any changes to improve your assignments or syllabi, the 2023 ECP Committee will have a presentation recapping our workshop from ACT: Portland in an asynchronous format.

Second, outside of ACT, there are great regional conferences, where you can network with colleagues and meet other ECPs. Some of our ECP Committee will be at the SWPA in San Antonio and MPA Conference in Chicago this year. There are other psychological conferences, regional, national, and international, that feature STP programming, too! If you are interested in virtual options, we will also have a summer Hackathon and other events throughout the year. Each of these events will include networking opportunities for us to connect with others.

We know that attending in person events can be challenging without funds. February can be a good time to think about external funding options. Thankfully, there are several opportunities that cater to ECPs. For example, both STP (up to $500) and Psi Chi (up to $1500) have travel grants that help offset costs of attending conferences. Both of these grants have multiple deadlines throughout the year.

Be sure to check out the ECP updates on Twitter/X and our website! We will be posting more updates regarding conferences, meet-ups, travel awards, and much more. We would also love to hear from you! Have you published a teaching paper lately? Are you presenting at any teaching conference coming up this year? Are you looking to develop any collaborations? Would you like to be part of an ECP member spotlight? If yes, we want to hear from you! E-mail us at stp-ecp@teachpsych.org, and we can highlight your teaching and conference wins on our social media!