8. ANNUAL MEETING
The Annual Meeting grew in size and scope during the 1980s, with increasing levels of activity (i.e., number of instructional seminars, workshops, didactic seminars, and services to graduate students and others). In 1984, with the reorganization of the Executive Office, a Meetings Manager position was created, and Janet Astner was appointed to fill the position. Since 1984, she has had primary responsibility for directing all ASA meetings (with the Annual Meeting by far the largest event), and has directed ASA meetings through this period of growth and major changes in technologies and meetings support systems. During the 1980s, a number of temporary staff, summer interns, and consultants provided support for the Annual Meetings.
Certain issues and concerns relating to the Annual Meeting reoccurred during the 1980s, including: (1) how to present the Preliminary Program in the best way possible at the lowest cost, (2) the rationale behind the rotation schedule for Annual Meeting sites, and (3) criteria for site selection (e.g., disqualifying sites if they did not support the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), or if they had anti-sodomy laws). Indeed, beginning with the 1980s, ASA began to implement policies regarding site selection for meetings based on consideration of factors such as support for the [ERA] amendment. Considerable emphasis was also placed on improving services in specialized areas including support for childcare, the disabled, and students.
Several Annual Meetings were memorable for the extraordinary challenges they presented. In 1985, three weeks before the meeting took place, a series of electrical fires at the Washington Hilton, where the meeting was to be held, closed down the hotel. A frantic search was made for alternate space over a five-day period, resulting in selection of the Washington Convention Center as the site for the meeting. Transferring operations at the last minute to a new location generated a host of problems and obstacles, especially at a time when technical support systems were not very flexible. However, under the direction of Executive Officer D'Antonio and Convention and Meetings Manager Janet Astner, the Annual Meeting of 1985 was a success-with a record number of sociologists in attendance. There was also an unexpected relocation of the 1986 Annual Meeting from San Francisco to New York because of the building expansion and remodeling schedules at the San Francisco Hilton, but this occurred with enough advance notice for planning purposes.
Headed by ASA President Matilda White Riley, in 1985, the 1986 Program Committee reconfigured the open submission component of the Annual Meeting Program by reducing and broadening Regular Session topics. The session slots that were opened up by this change were then reserved for use by Regular Session organizers who received a high number of good submissions. This restructuring of the open submission process reached out more broadly to the scientific community and remains in effect today.
Other significant events relating to Annual Meetings in the 1980s include:
- In 1982, Council adopted a resolution that held organizers responsible for the pre-registration of participants in their sessions, after discovering that 32 percent of program participants never registered for the 1982 Meeting.
- In 1983, a survey of the membership showed that cost, location, and dates were the three most important variables influencing decisions on whether to attend meetings. Members also indicated a preference for dates between August 10 and 25, and which avoided the Labor Day holiday, and for major tourist spots as sites.
- In 1988, Council reaffirmed its policy to restrict member participation in Annual Meetings to two places in the program.
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