On September 27, the ACASA Board voted to hold our Triennial conference in June 2021 remotely. We are all disheartened that we will not be gathering together in Chicago after three years of planning and organizing. We realize that it is possible that an effective COVID 19 vaccine will be available in 2021. Whether it will be evenly accessible across the globe and in time to make travel arrangements, is largely unknown. We also discussed the viability of pushing our conference forward to Winter 2021. Ultimately, we felt postponing further would still leave us with too many unknowns. The hard work that so many folks put into our Chicago event, specifically Mark DeLancey and Costa Petridis and our programming and fundraising committees, is commendable. It is our mission to plan and execute a dynamic, interactive meeting, that takes into consideration our magnitude and scope, our various time zones and internet capabilities, and our need for thoughtful engagement outside panel presentations.
We are looking to ASA, CAA, and the Smithsonian for best models and platforms and our programming committee is considering the ideal format. Some of you have had experience with virtual conferences over the last eight months and we welcome your suggestions.
– Peri