In 2000, after more than 50 years of meeting every December at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City, the Waldorf “requested” that the Association move its meeting dates to January. New York City had rebounded from years of a decline in tourism and it became standard for almost every hotel in the City to be sold out from Thanksgiving through New Year's. It was simply no longer in the Waldorf's economic interest to hold APsaA's meeting in December; they could charge room rates of at least 100% more than the room rates members were paying. It should also be noted that, during the same time, almost every membership association that traditionally held December conferences in New York was moved to January as well.
When the request was made by the Waldorf, APsaA conducted a survey of its members to ascertain how important it was to continue meeting in New York, at the Waldorf, and to hold the Annual Meeting (in May) in conjunction with the American Psychiatric Association. Respondents overwhelmingly supported the Winter Meeting being held in New York in January and at the Waldorf.
Clearly, the membership has spoken with its presence and its registration fees.
Historically, the Annual Meeting had been held just prior to the meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), in the same city. Increasingly, finding sufficient hotel space for APsaA members became difficult as the APA began holding peripheral sessions during the final days of the APsaA meeting. Only 25 percent of the survey respondents felt that it was important to hold the Annual Meeting in conjunction with the American Psychiatric Association. The survey also indicated that members were interested in APsaA scheduling the Annual Meeting in cities that would be too small for APA meetings as well as in major metropolitan cities.
So in 2003, APsaA embarked on a two-year trial. Instead of a December 2002 meeting, the Fall Meeting was shifted to January (and renamed the Winter Meeting) for 2003 and 2004. In order to allow sufficient time to plan a second scientific meeting, the Annual Meeting was moved to June. At the time, it was noted how important it was for APsaA to earn a profit from its meetings and for attendance at the meetings to remain high. And during the same two years, APsaA has worked diligently to maintain a presence at the American Psychiatric Association meetings.
We have now completed the experiment. During the two years, a small number of members have voiced concerns and complaints about the shift in dates. The comments have ranged from disappointment at not being in New York during the holiday season to having to travel only a few weeks after the winter holiday break to the fact that the June meeting conflicted with graduations and Father's Day. By way of historical note, APsaA regularly received some complaints about the May meeting dates due to Mother's Day; clearly there is no perfect date for the entire membership.
If one looks at attendance and finances, the experiment has been a success. Attendance of those paying full or near full registration fees at the Annual Meetings has not dropped off since the move from May to June. Not including students and others who attended the meeting at reduced registration rates, the June 2003 meeting in Boston was the largest Annual Meeting in a decade both in terms of total attendance as well as in terms of registration fees paid. The recent San Francisco meeting in June 2004 had an attendance that equaled or surpassed those of May meetings during the past several years and took in more registration income than any other Annual Meeting during the last five years. The two January meetings also have shown no decline in paid attendance over the December meetings. Clearly, the membership has spoken with its presence and its registration fees.
However, in an effort to accommodate some members' concerns, APsaA explored the possibility of switching the Winter Meeting back to December but in cities around the country and then holding the Annual Meeting in New York in May at the Waldorf. The Waldorf was approached with the idea and their response was “January is one of our ‘shoulder’ months while December and May are peak seasons for our industry. Sleeping room rates in May would be at least $150-$200 more per night than those in January. In addition, it is one of our busiest months for annual catering events [the many non-profit galas that take place almost every night in New York City every May], so securing all of the function space that your program requires would be extremely difficult—almost next to impossible. One of the reasons we're able to offer such attractive rates and so much of our function space is the placement of the program in January.”
The Waldorf could not have been more clear that, for the meeting space APsaA requires and the number of people who attend, January was the month in which the meeting could be accommodated.
In order to acknowledge the cost and travel time required of West Coast members to attend the Winter Meeting in New York, a concerted effort is being made to plan the Annual Meetings either on the West Coast or at least more toward the center of the country.
While we wish we could accommodate every member, attendance and economics have compelled the Executive Committee to vote in favor of continuing to hold the meetings in January and June, with the January meeting taking place at the Waldorf-Astoria. We believe it to be the best decision.
Dean K. Stein is executive director of APsaA.