May 3, 2006

MEMORANDUM 06-12

TO: Deans, Faculty and Staff of Member and Fee-Paid Schools

FROM: Carl Monk

SUBJECT: AALS 2007 Annual Meeting

The AALS Executive Committee has decided to move the 2007 Annual Meeting from San Francisco to Washington , DC .

I completely concur in the decision of the Executive Committee, for reasons I will explain in a moment, but I write with mixed feelings because I know San Francisco is a popular venue, and this will be the second year in a row the meeting will have been held in Washington.  I am delighted however, given the possible problems associated with remaining in San Francisco, that the AALS staff has, for now the second year in a row, worked diligently and successfully, to find another venue that would not only accommodate the Annual Meeting, but accommodate it in an excellent manner that will assure easy access for registrants to the many top quality programs that will be offered. I am also delighted to report that the “Gala Reception” will be held at the Smithsonian's newest museum, the National Museum of the American Indian.

Many of you will recall the labor problems that threatened to cause strife during the 2005 Annual Meeting.  Those problems have not been resolved, and there is currently a public union boycott of all of the major properties in San Francisco .  Based on many discussions with both labor officials and hotel management over the last few months, we have concluded that there is a reasonable possibility that the current boycott could result in a strike during the time of the AALS Annual Meeting. 

AALS has not investigated the merits of the San Francisco labor dispute and takes no position on that dispute.   It is clear however that the quality of the Annual Meeting, and attendance at the meeting, would be negatively affected in the event of a strike.  Some speakers would decide to cancel and, in all likelihood, it would be too late for Sections to substitute equally well qualified speakers; some potential registrants would also choose not to attend the meeting.  Thus, the single most important AALS professional development program of the year would suffer significantly.

AALS staff has thoroughly investigated the option of holding program sessions in the San Francisco Convention Center .  Although this alternative might have been possible, it would have required busing to and from multiple hotels and the Convention Center, and would have cost AALS about $200,000 -$300,000 more to use the Center and produce the Annual Meeting. The combination of the significant inconvenience caused by the busing, and the added cost, persuaded the Executive Committee that this was not a viable option.   

AALS staff investigated cities in which we have previously held the Annual Meeting.  Unfortunately all of those cities, including New Orleans , have other business booked that precluded moving to those cities. The AALS also considered other cities, but there are major difficulties in moving a meeting to a new city ; it would take months of planning and investigation to assure that all events could fit in the meeting space, and to negotiate contracts with hotels unfamiliar with our needs.  It is no exaggeration to say that those difficulties are almost insurmountable.

 I'm sure you will see from the Annual Meeting program that the tradition of offering top quality programming produced by the AALS Sections along with the offering of new options for programming including open source, hot topics and posters will continue at this meeting.   We understand that AALS Sections may need to make changes in their programs and funding and will support Sections that need to do so. 

I look forward to seeing many of you at the reception at the National Museum of the American Indian or at some other time during the Annual Meeting and I wish you a pleasant and productive summer.  Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

CCM:se