President's Column
June 2021
As I look toward wrapping up my year as your President, I realize what a busy, unique and transformative year we have just navigated together as an Association. I am excited for several reasons….our opportunity to connect (virtually and in person) this summer for our Joint Annual Meeting, the bright future our Association has given the new slate of AAEA and Section leaders announced over the past month and the realization, once again, of the great set of colleagues and members I am honored to know and represent in my role (as I peruse our Award winners, Fellows, and list of mentors stepping up to guide young professionals).
Thanks for making AAEA a truly member-driven, impactful, and relevant organization!
The Mentoring Committee continues to be active, and if you have not had a chance to join in one of their many virtual events over the past year, there will be another focused on listening to diverse voices on July 13th (watch your email for more information). Also, we have a diverse set of mentors/mentees gathering in Austin (and connecting virtually), culminating in the 2021 AAEA Mentoring Research Post-conference Workshop…..and it is not too late to register if you are interested in participating: https://www.aaea.org/membership/mentorship-programs/mentoring-events.
As another exciting opportunity to highlight the impactful work of our membership, we have gotten some great support from Wiley publishing to create a new publication. Currently, Tim Beatty is leading our discussions with the publisher and AAEA leadership will be rolling out more information and opportunities to provide feedback on the new journal over the next few months.
As we approach the Annual Meeting, there is more clarity (for us and many of you as work travel policies are updated) on how to plan. Given current numbers registering, we expect to see over 500 of you in Austin (with an equal number tuning in through our virtual program offerings). Thanks to all the Section leaders, session organizers, authors and EDI staff working to help us offer a rich program and slate of events, with an almost all of that program also being available for virtual streaming, or as recordings to watch at your convenience. I am excited to see how this might even elevate our level of engagement in the rich content being provided. We hope to have a program posted by early July and appreciate your patience as we take longer to get the program lined up given all the moving parts.
We are gradually deciding on the nature and organization for social opportunities in Austin ….including receptions and reunions that will be in spaces that allow for more distancing and space to gather in smaller “pods”. My goal is to have at least one night for virtual participants to join us as well…so stay tuned!!
So, know that you will continue to get active communications about the meetings over the next 6 weeks, and this will be important to read as we expect plans will continue to evolve a bit.