Due to the ongoing developments of the COVID-19 Delta Variant, the leadership of the AAA will be reevaluating the plan for the hybrid 2021 Annual Meeting after the U.S. Labor Day holiday. Decisions about protocols and safety measures for the hybrid meeting will be announced after that date to the entire membership of the AAA and outlined here on this page.
Updated: March 24, 2021
The health and safety of our members, attendees, staff, and volunteers are our first and most important priorities. While we are all eager to once again be together to share in networking, fellowship, and scholarship, we are mindful of the public health standards and best practices that must be observed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As public health conditions are dynamic and evolving, so too are our plans for the 2021 AAA Hybrid Annual Meeting. We will use this page to continue to keep our attendees and members updated on the meeting’s plans, knowing our plans may change as the public health conditions dictate. As we move closer to November, it is not only important for all of us to be safe at our meeting, and equally as important that we feel safe as we re-acclimate to gatherings in a post-pandemic world. For these reasons, we may continue to insist on health and safety protocols being followed even if they are loosened by public health officials.
Meeting Format: The Annual Meeting is being held in a hybrid format to include a place-based meeting in Baltimore as well as a professionally hosted virtual platform.
Public Health and Safety in Baltimore: The place-based meeting’s footprint will be smaller than it has been in previous years, with fewer meeting rooms onsite, distributed between the Convention Center and the connected Hilton Hotel. Distancing, shielding, and masking protocols will be in place, with those specific details still being determined/finalized, in close coordination with health officials’ recommendations.
Virtual Safety: While we consider many parts of the Raising Our Voices Virtual Event Series in November of 2020 to be a success, we learned the absolute necessity to employ a professional vendor to secure our virtual meeting platform. For the 2021 AAA Hybrid Annual Meeting, a fully secure professional platform will be provided by one of our long-time trusted vendors, ConferenceDirect. Along with increased and assured safety, this platform will allow attendees to engage with each other in really meaningful and productive ways. We’re excited to share it with you!