The Waldorf Astoria Hotel informed the American early last year that room rates will double in years beyond 2001 if we continue to hold our meetings at our customary mid-December time. At the Fall Meeting last December, Dick Fox reported on the results of the survey about meeting options that was sent out to 5,000 meeting attendees last summer. About one-third of these surveys were returned.
Only 20 percent of those responding felt it was important to hold onto the December dates. Members were flexible about the Fall Meetings; December vs. January, New York vs. other east coast cities were all acceptable options.
Historically, the Annual Meeting has been held just prior to the meeting of the American Psychiatric Association, in the same city. Finding hotel space has become increasingly difficult for us because the APA has begun holding peripheral sessions on the weekend prior to its main sessions (our closing weekend). Thirty-six percent of the survey respondents reported attending APA meetings; 25 percent felt that holding the meetings contiguously was important to maintain contact between the two groups.
After reviewing all the survey data, the Executive Committee decided to change the meetings for a two-year trial period. The 2001 Fall Meeting will be held in December in New York at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel as usual. The two Fall Meetings following 2001 will be held in the second or third week of January 2003 and 2004 — still at the Waldorf, which promises to give us an excellent room rate.
This two-year trial plan is subject to re-evaluation. It is essential that the American continue to make a profit from its meetings. It is equally essential that attendance remain high to maintain the vigor of the organization.
The Executive Committee asked TAP to reassure members who are concerned about the separation of the APsaA spring meeting from the APAs. Joint symposia will continue, as will efforts to increase our formal involvement with various APA functions.