Binning Singletons was excited to participate in the World Microbe Forum, a collaboration between the American Society for Microbiology, the Federation of European Microbiological Societies, and many more.

We debuted at ASM Microbe 2019, but a lot has happened since then. Here’s the quick version of what the program does.

  1. Identify the Singletons – if you are going to a meeting alone, for the first time, or otherwise feel like you don’t fit in, you’re a Singleton!
  2. Bin the Singletons – Using a metaphor from DNA sequencing analysis, we group Singletons together in small groups (bins), to provide support and camaraderie. The Singletons also get a Mentor, who acts as a meeting coach, to help the Singletons have a good meeting. This part will be more difficult with a virtual meeting and we don’t plan on making individual matches, but we’re going to be as supportive as possible.
  3. Horizontal Transfer – We use this to describe the information the Mentors share with the Singletons to help them have a better meeting. There is also exchange between the Singletons, who bring a variety of experiences to the group.
  4. Quorum Sensing – When we meet in real life, all the Singletons come together for a mixer, allowing Singletons to “Find their People” across the bins. These connections are important to create viable, vibrant networks. In a virtual setting, we’ll try to approximate this with our Meet-Ups.
  5. Exponential Growth – The Singletons take their new knowledge and networks and grow and thrive in the meeting, and into the future.

Events at the WMF

  • Orientation

Binning Singletons will host an orientation meeting on June 20, 6:00-6:45 PM EDT. We’ll introduce you to the program, our curated itinerary, and some of the topics and mentors that will be the focus of our meet-ups throughout the meeting

Visit the sessions and posters on the Binning Singletons Curated Itinerary and win the board game Gut Check!

  • Meet-Ups!

Binning Singletons Meet-Ups are 45 minute sessions in the Community Corner. We’ll have up to a few a day, focusing on community, career path, or other topics of interest.

We hope you were able to join us at the World Microbe Forum!