Tamar Schlekat, SETAC North America Executive Director
It’s reg time for the SETAC North America 43rd Annual Meeting! What’s reg time you may ask? Well, that’s how SETAC staff refer to the flurry of activity that happens when registration opens for an upcoming meeting. SETACers flock to our website to take advantage of discounted early bird registration fees. If you have not done so, stop now and register!
We’re excited that after three years of seclusion, we have an innovative format and schedule that we’ve designed with members in mind. Rumor has it that everyone (well, at least the program committee) is happy to know that we plan to ease into the day with a hot drink and networking at the morning poster session. From there, we will be challenged at plenary talks, and only when our brains are fired up will we start platform sessions. We are also ending our day a little earlier with another poster session. Poster halls always have the liveliest conversations, and we hope participants and presenters alike enjoy the one-on-one networking. After the second poster session, the many side events and social activities offer further networking opportunities, and since we are ending the day in a timely fashion, there’s room for relaxed dinners with colleagues. This format was developed to accommodate the feedback we received from members, who said they most valued in-person connections at meetings. The schedule was also specifically designed to better accommodate time zones for those joining virtually. Speaking of virtual participation, we will be streaming all eight parallel platform sessions and recording them live. Also, all poster and virtual-only presentations will be pre-uploaded on the meeting platform so that remote participants will not miss any scientific presentations, and in-person participants will not have to make tough choices between conflicting presentations as they can visit the online platform at any time.
While most people are excited to finally see the program and begin to make plans and register, it is also a time when our email and social media get inundated with queries, many about registration fees. “Why are fees so high?!,” they ask. “All you need is a website domain and a Zoom line for the virtual meeting, and food is not even included in the in-person meeting,” they say. Note that we have not increased rates for over ten years. However, this year, we had to adjust a little, even though the adjustment does not even reflect the rate of inflation over those years. So how are registration fees set? Well, I am here to break it down, and I am positive that once our members understand what our fees are based on, they would be willing to pay double to support the society they love.
First, it DOES cost a lot to put on a meeting, whether virtual or in-person, and hybrid meetings are even more expensive; we even have a Nature citation to back up that claim! There are costs for the abstract management system, virtual meeting platform, venue, audio-visual equipment, furniture (those poster boards aren’t cheap!) and refreshments. Second, costs of goods at convention centers are much higher than retail. For example, the cost of a cup of coffee, a pastry or a banana can be three to five times what one would expect to pay at a restaurant (and no, we cannot bring in outside food). Third, it takes a tremendous amount of human resource to coordinate and manage all aspects of the meeting. Finally, and maybe more importantly, full registration to the meeting allows SETAC North America to offer grants and reduced registration rates for those with economic need. It also allows us to offer accommodations to those who need them, such as sign language interpreters, to ensure inclusion and accessibility of our science.
Keep in mind that the annual meeting is the main income source for SETAC North America, and any revenue from the meeting helps to defray expenses not covered by member dues. Without meetings, we won’t be able to offer all the other programs we support, such as this newsletter, our new and very well-received webinars program, or the science corner, where we curate content for anyone to learn about a new topic. So, I hope I have you convinced that every penny of the meeting registration income goes towards servicing you, our members and followers.
Reg time is also when members ask about the location of the meeting. Some of them want to host it in their hometowns. We love hearing venue suggestions from members, but we start planning at least five years in advance and take many factors into account. If you missed the article about meeting venue selection, please check it out. As this article hits your inbox, we are considering a future meeting in the great nation of Canada. Watch this space for exciting announcements soon!
Author’s contact: Tamar Schlekat, tamar.schlekat@setac.org
