Annual Meeting Update

Juliana McDonald
2023 Program Chair

Finally, as we say in Kentucky:  we’ve made the turn, the days are getting longer, and we are at the top of the home stretch toward Spring!  The 2023 SfAA Annual Meeting Preliminary Program is almost ready to become the Final Program so be sure to look for that (Program) as you continue to plan your meeting attendance.  We all thank Melissa Cope and Trish Colvin in the SfAA office for their expertise and skill in making order out of the chaos of all the submissions!  I am deeply grateful to the Program Committee, the Student Committee, and all the TIGs and Co-Sponsors for coming through with interesting and dynamic presentations, roundtables, panels, and posters!  Thankfully, this meeting will be a gathering more akin to “how things used to be.”  As I look through the preliminary program, participants have taken the meeting theme(s) to heart.  Sessions reflect a wide range of important continuing conversations as well as new perspectives on the value of the social sciences in solving the world’s complex existing and emerging problems.  Importantly, we are more dedicated than ever to the quality of training and professionalization of the next generations as shown in the lineup of workshops as well as sessions.  The reenergized Student Committee has been hard at work organizing special sessions and events for this meeting.  I strongly urge all of you to look for those sessions, attend them, and include students in your networking.  

It bears repeating that staying in the Hilton Netherland Plaza will be an event in itself!  If you are waiting until the last minute, please keep in mind that you will not get a better rate at any other downtown hotel.  The rates have been kept low just for this meeting and by staying at the meeting hotel, you are supporting the SfAA as well as making your attendance so much easier.  In planning your trip, note our lineup for Local Day on Tuesday, March 28 and support our local scholars and practitioners as they present a diverse range of projects throughout the tri-state area (OH/KY/IN).  Local Day is also an opportunity to interact with the public as this is a free day for anyone who may be interested in just what it is that we “do”!  

We are organizing a few Local Tours, but also look for links to self-guided tours and activities of interest.  Cincinnati has a wealth of fun and engaging things to do when you want to take a break from the meetings.  It has a wide selection of types of restaurants and bars where you can find a quieter (or noisier!) place to begin or continue conversations over a meal or refreshing beverage.  This may be the first time in a long time that many of you have had the opportunity to meet again and there are plenty of places to do so within the immediate area or further afield in Mt. Adams or Over-the-Rhine.  

The weather is well, interesting in southern Ohio and northern Kentucky in March and April, so it’s hard to say whether we will be in sunshine and 70 degrees or a snowstorm--but let’s hope for the former!  Either way, we also say, “If you don’t like the weather now, just wait a minute” so be prepared for either possibility.  And the weather won’t matter because we have a great program and so much to see and do indoors and outdoors!  

So if you haven’t already done so, go to the SfAA website, register for the meeting (Register), and reserve your room now (Hotel).  I look forward to seeing all of you in Cincy, March 28 through April 1!