General Notes

Promote attendance and encourage timely topics that draw large crowds

  • The number of program hours we are allotted each year is based on the attendance at our sessions.
  • Encourage more interactive formats (e.g., panel discussions, conversation hours) as opposed to traditional formats (e.g., symposia).

Co-sponsor vs. co-listing:

  • Co-sponsor: We have to contribute hours from our programming to that event
  • Co-listing: We can co-list as many events in our program as we’d like without using our programming hours

Presidential session(s):

  • Business Meeting
  • D52 Presidents oftentimes give a Presidential Address.
  • Do not schedule alternative Programming during either session.
  • Be sure to program ALL board members as co-presdnters for the Business Meeting and/or presidential address to ensure they will not have schedule conflicts

General Recommendations

  • Have an initial Skype meeting with the chairs from the year before after reading materials and thinking of questions (perhaps have a second call when things are further along)
  • Be sure to send a representative to the APA Newcomer happy hour/reception
  • Encourage submitters to apply for Continuing Education (CE) credit if it applies to their session (e.g., Conversation Hours are ineligible). There is a very short “’application” that authors can complete when submitting their proposals and it yields a big audience.
  • When submitting meetings, proposals, etc., list Division board members who you really want to be there as participants so that they are available and can attend.
    • Consider using this strategy for the OIA International Visitors reception (you would have to ask OIA to list those folks as participants) or for the International Humanitarian Award Address or the APA International Award address.
  • Encourage the students and ECPs to co-host a social hour together.
  • Coordinate with the Secretary and President about Board Meeting food and Suite food (e.g., wine)
  • Order stickers with D52 logo (we used Vista Print to order them online). Coordinate with Division before purchasing as they may be purchasing some of these as well
  • Have 11” x 17” Suite signs printed at Kinkos on 80 stock paper (slightly thicker) and use foam board/poster board to make them larger and more substantial. We want them to stand up clearly and easily on the easels for display to point out D52 events

Social Hour

  • We felt like the popcorn cart (or a similar salty snack) was the perfect treat
  • One complimentary glass of wine went over well.

Advertising

  • Provide materials for the website. Then you can make text-sparse and graphically interesting graphics / flyers and refer people to the web for details.
  • Create and distribute Division 52 only Program with Convention programs, Other Programming, and Co-Listed/Co-Sponsored Program
    • Post on the website
    • Distribute link  via the ListServ
    • Create a 1-page handout with the schedule that people can easily carry with them.
    • Create a two-column version with Convention program on one side and Suite programming on the other

Timeline

August – year before convention

  • Establish shared Gmail account for communication with members, presenters, etc. This will keep convention emails (there are a lot!) separate and in their own account so they are not lost.
    • Example: Div52.year@gmail.com  as account name. Use shared password (e.g. CityYear) (replace “year” with the year of the convention).
  • Plan a meeting for late August to begin planning – include convention co-chairs, president at the minimum. Decisions include;
    • What kinds of programs will the Division accept for APA programming? (in the past the Division has not accepted individual papers but has required that papers be part of a symposium or coherent session. This has been announced to Division members and they have been encouraged to seek others to partner with – can use the Division Discuss listserv for this).
    • Will you impose a rule on the number of submissions any one person can make as first author? (in the past it has been no more than 1 or 2)
    • Be sure you are added to the Division Program Chair ListServ. Use this ListServ as a resource for questions. Candy Won (cwon@apa.org) and Minnie Williams (MTWilliams@apa.org) in the Convention office are also good contacts.
    • Find out what “cross-Division” programming possibilities are available for the next year’s convention.

September

  • APA issues call for convention proposals
  • Begin to advertise the Convention, solicit proposals, etc.
    • Division ListServs (ask for permission to post on the D52 announce only list; join the Div52 Discuss list so you can post independently; mark addresses to post to the student and ECP lists)
    • Division 52 website (contact webmaster at apadiv52@gmail.com)
    • Facebook (contact social media editor)
    • Twitter
  • Create and distribute a flyer to advertise Convention deadlines and any additional Division programming time.
    • Note: Division Programming deadline should be early enough to have these programs in place before APA deadline around the first of June.
    • Contact and work with Amanda Clinton in the Office of International Affairs (OIA) to discuss opportunities for partnering during Convention.

October-November

  • Solicit program submission
  • Early to Mid-October: Send first call for reviewers for Division programming
    o   Update the reviewer information on the online APA portal
  • Late October: Send first call for Division Programming (e.g. to committees, other groups that may want meetings)

December

  • December 1: All Convention programming submissions are due to APA.
    • Submitted via the online portal
    • Generally the Division does not accept individual papers as part of Convention programming. Papers must all be submitted as part of an organized session/symposium
    • Program proposals with D52 as primary Division released to chairs for review
  • Mid-December: Review of proposals at the Division level
    • All reviews are conducted online and must be competed between 12/4 & 12/18
    • Reviewers will not receive more than six submissions; three reviewers for each submission
    • Reviewers should be Ph.D. level and have some international interests/experiences. If the Ph.D. level reviewer so chooses, he/she can partner with students as co-reviewers
    • Group reviewers into teams of three when possible
    • You can use the online APA portal make teams and distribute proposals.
    • All submissions should be reviewed by at least two reviewers.
    • Try to match proposals with reviewers’ expertise
    • You will have access to reviewer list from the year earlier
  • Suggested decision categories to use:
    • ACCEPT: Unanimous decision to “accept without reservation” by all reviewers
    • ACCEPT WITH MODIFICATIONS: At least one reviewer requested modifications
    • ACCEPT AMBIGUOUS: At least one reviewer says to “accept if space permits”
    • IF SPACE PERMITS
    • AMBIGUOUS: Some combination of accept and reject

YEAR OF CONVENTION

January

  • January (usually 3rd week): Final Division program (not including additional programming) is due to the APA Convention Office. This is done via the online APA portal.
    • You will be advised of the number of programming hours available to you (in 2023 it was xx).
    • Divisions usually receive 2 free hours for poster sessions (there are usually two 1-hour poster sessions on two consecutive days). There is an APA-imposed limit of 40 posters/session.
    • The Business Meeting receives a gratis hour.  Also, Divisions may host a 2-hour long Social Hour but only count it against 1 hour in the program.
  • When you submit the program, you will need to be able to indicate which sessions are being accepted and rejected as well as your preferred day/time for each session.

February

  • Mid-February: Submit Committee report for D52 mid-winter meeting.
    • Report on submissions
    • Report on additional programming possibilities and needs
    • Budget for convention expenses – this must be approved by the D52 board at its mid-winter meeting

April

MAY

  • Start working with hotels on catering
    • Be sure to ask about daily minimums and service fees
    • Get that information in writing.

June

June 1: Assitional Programming due to APA (can be adapted if things change after this date)

June 1: Name badge ribbon orders due to APA (in the past, ribbons have royal blue, said “Division 52 in gold” and had a stripe at the bottom. APA will send a link to allow you to check and see if anything is left over from the year before. For 2025: Order new ribbons with new name

July

  • July 1: Membership brochures due to APA (we ordered 200 color brochures directly from APA in 2018. They will send a link to allow you to check and see if anything is left over from the prior year). Brochures are required and were distributed from the central APA membership booth at Convention.