Dear ISA Colleagues,
For those of you who were able to attend the recent Nashville 2022 Convention, we hope that you found the return to the in-person event as gratifying and valuable as we did. We owe tremendous thanks to Kristian Gleditsch and his program team, Ursula Daxecker and Cullen Hendrix, for their tireless work and ability to go with the flow during the past year. Their nearly endless work made for an enjoyable experience for the rest of us. We are so grateful for their efforts to make the Nashville convention such a success.
It likely goes without saying that COVID and other constraining forces in our world present significant challenges to how all professional associations do business in the coming years. As a result, ISA’s Long Range Planning Committee and other forums within ISA will be gathering ideas from the membership, discussing the range of challenges, and proposing options in the months ahead for ISA sponsored interactions, virtual and face-to-face, in the coming years.
As you make your plans for next year’s conference in Montréal, though, please know that it will an in-person-only event. This decision was made for several reasons including:
- Limits on funding and travel for many colleagues when virtual options are offered;
- The high cost of broadband Internet access at convention sites. That cost starts at $500,000 for a convention week and would lead to much higher registration fees for attendees;
- The logistical difficulties for participants and organizers of hosting virtual and in-person options side-by-side;
- The many enthusiastic comments we received from colleagues about their enjoyment of re-engaging with in-person interaction in a safe, healthy environment.
We know that some of you will be disappointed with this decision but rest assured that ISA is working to develop further virtual interaction possibilities (e.g., online-only conferences, webinars, smaller research collaboratives, and more) in the next year so that we can continue to provide intellectual opportunities for all our members. Please look for a chance to communicate your preferences on options for the future to the Long-Range Planning Committee soon.
The program theme for Montréal 2023 will be Real Struggles, High Stakes: Cooperation, Contention, and Creativity. We are excited to see your submissions once the submissions portal formally opens about May 1st. As you consider and prepare your submissions, though, know that virtual and “hybrid” options will not be available for the convention in March 2023.
If you have questions or concerns, please always feel free to reach out to us or anyone at ISA HQ at isa@isanet.org. We look forward to seeing you at conferences this summer, fall and then in Montréal in March 2023.
Sincerely,
Deborah Avant, ISA President 2022-2023
Mark A. Boyer, ISA Executive Director