FAQs

General Questions

The meeting will be held in-person in Seattle, along with a virtual component. In-person sessions and virtual sessions will alternate session time slots.  There will be a set of sessions taking place in Seattle,  while another set of sessions will be held on a virtual platform. A preliminary schedule can be found below.

Schedule

Tuesday, September 28 and Wednesday, September 29

Virtual Panel Sessions

6 a.m. Pacific/9 a.m. Eastern

Virtual Panel Sessions

10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern

Virtual Panel Sessions

2 p.m. Pacific/5 p.m. Eastern

Thursday, September 30 – Saturday, October 2

Virtual Panel Sessions

6 a.m. Pacific/9 a.m. Eastern

In-Person Panel Sessions

8 a.m. Pacific/11 a.m. Eastern

Virtual Panel Sessions

10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern

In-Person Panel Sessions

12 p.m. Pacific/3 p.m. Eastern

Virtual Panel Sessions

2 p.m. Pacific/5 p.m. Eastern

In-Person Panel Sessions

4 p.m. Pacific/7 p.m. Eastern


Sunday, October 3

Virtual Panel Sessions

6 a.m. Pacific/9 a.m. Eastern

In-Person Panel Sessions

8 a.m. Pacific/11 a.m. Eastern

In-Person Panel Sessions

10 a.m. Pacific/1 p.m. Eastern

Virtual Panel Sessions

12 p.m. Pacific/3 p.m. Eastern

Virtual Panel Sessions

2 p.m. Pacific/5 p.m. Eastern

All times will be listed in Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−07:00). To better accommodate our virtual participants around the world, the first virtual sessions will start at 6:00 a.m. PDT and end at 3:30 p.m. PDT each day. 

Both All Academic (the submission site) and the meeting platform allow you to set the program in your own time zone.

We have contracted with Safe Expo, an event health and safety company, to plan and implement measures that are in line with guidance from the CDC, the World Health Organization, and state and local authorities. You can learn more about these on our COVID-19 Health and Safety page

Anyone wishing to attend the APSA Annual Meeting in-person must provide proof of having been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Fully vaccinated means 14 days have passed since your final doseGiven the current environment, we are taking this step to keep our attendees, their families, and communities safe. 

Attendees will only be admitted to APSA’s Annual Meeting with proof of having been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Vaccine verification will include uploading a vaccine card showing proof of full vaccination to Safe Expo’s system for their review and approval. If you are not comfortable uploading your card, you are able to show proof of full vaccination onsite. If you upload your vaccination card and are approved, you will be emailed a purple confirmation. Your card information is then deleted from Safe Expo’s system. You will need to show the vaccine verification purple confirmation in order to pick up/print your badge. To access your vaccine verification purple confirmation, visit the verification upload site and enter your email.  View the full process here>> Since vaccine verification is now required, attendees will not have to do a daily temperature screening. Cards must be uploaded to the Safe Expo portal by Friday, September 24.

Note: Fully vaccinated means 14 days have passed since your final dose. Therefore, you must have received the final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine prior to September 15, 2021, to be considered fully vaccinated. No exceptions will be made to this policy.

Upload your vaccine verification documents now>>

In-person attendees will have access to all the in-person panels on-site as well as the virtual sessions during the meeting and on-demand recorded sessions for 6 months after the meeting. The in-person meeting will also feature enhanced health and safety measures.  You can learn more about these on our COVID-19 Health and Safety page  and in the one-page summary of our health and safety plan.

Virtual attendees will have access to all virtual panels in real-time, as well as real-time access to view select livestreaming in-person panels (around 55 panels) from Seattle. Virtual attendees will also have access to the virtual content on-demand for six months after the meeting.

Access our international attendee resources to get information on visas, COVID-19, and National Interest Exceptions. We are happy to provide invitation letters. To request one, email meeting@apsanet.org. 

Thank you for asking! We ask that all participants be flexible and patient with APSA over the coming weeks and months. We are working hard to provide the best experience possible during these tough times while always keeping participants’ health and safety as our number one priority. While the new format of an in-person meeting with a virtual component is certainly different than what APSA has done in the past, we hope everyone will participate enthusiastically. 

Registration

In-person rates:

Type

Early Bird Registration Rate
(through 8/6/2021)

Standard Registration Rate

Student Member, High School Teacher Member, TIM Member, and Unemployed Member

$125

$175

All Other Members

$240

$315

Non-Member

$450

$525

 

Virtual rates:
Virtual rates have an approximate 20% discount due to less panel access than the in-person option .

Type

Early Bird Registration Rate (through 8/6/2021)

Standard Registration Rate

Student Member, High School Teacher Member, TIM Member, and Unemployed Member

$100

$140

All Other Members

$190

$250

Non-Members

$380

$380

No! Registration for the hybrid meeting will only have early-bird and regular rates in order to provide all registrants with the lowest rate possible. The virtual registration rates offer a 20% discount.

Virtual meeting platforms and video communication software like Zoom are not free, especially when used for a meeting of our size. There are costs associated with using these technologies as well as hiring experienced staff to manage them. We have partnered with a virtual platform provider to manage our virtual meeting, as well as provide technological support during the meeting. In addition to these costs, hosting the annual meeting requires year-round staff time dedicated to the planning and execution of the meeting. While there is a registration fee to attend the virtual portion of the meeting, these rates reflect a 20% discount from the in-person fees.

We will be constantly reviewing the below deadlines and adjusting as needed.

Late April: Registration opens
July 7: Pre-registration deadline for program participants (both in-person and virtual)
August 6: Early bird registration deadline
September 16: Deadline to upload your paper; Deadline to upload pre-recording

APSA provided travel grants to attend the in-person annual meeting to U.S. graduate students, international graduate students studying in the U.S., unemployed members, international scholars, community college faculty, status committee members, and contingent faculty. These grants are intended to defray the costs of travel to the meeting such as the cost of a bus, train or plane ticket as well as meals and hotel stays. Similar to 2020, accessibility grants were also available for virtual participants. 

Please complete this form.  Due to the close proximity of the meeting, the adjustment may be processed after the Annual Meeting. 

*NOTE* If you are panelist on an in-person panel moving to a virtual registration, please complete the pre-record presentation form to do a pre-record: https://apsa.wufoo.com/forms/prerecording-registration-form/ and notify your panelists that you will be doing a pre-record. The deadline to submit a pre-recording is September 16.

Yes! All virtual panels will be recorded and will be available to all registered participants for up to six months after the meeting. Some presenters may choose to opt-out of sharing their panel recording. Only the virtual panels will be recorded and available on-demand; the in-person panels will not be recorded except for the livestreaming sessions.

Rooms have also been set aside for in-person attendees to participate in virtual panels from Seattle from their personal device or laptop. These rooms will feature 6′ tables with chairs and an electricity drop. Meeting spaces will have general conference wifi access. We recommend bringing your device/laptop, power cord, and headphones/headset. The rooms and schedules are:

  • Sheraton Juniper and Leschi (Tuesday – Sunday at noon)
    • Greenwood and Kirkland will also have seating and tables, but not electricity (Thursday – Sunday at noon)
  • Washington State Convention Center 203, 213, 304, and 306 (Tuesday – Sunday at 3:30 p.m.)
  • The Conference Center Chelan 4 and Chelan 5 (Thursday – Sunday at 3:30 p.m.)

Additionally, all conference hotels offer guest room wifi.

APSA has a no refund policy for the Annual Meeting. However, we will accept applications for partial refunds for the difference between in-person and virtual registration rates for in-person attendees who are unable to participate in Seattle either due to travel restrictions or other extraordinary circumstances related to COVID-19. To request an adjustment in your registration fee from in-person to vritual, complete this form.  Note: Pre-Recorded Presentations are still available for individuals who have moved to a virtual registration, but have an in-person presentation.  If you need to be removed from the program, please let your division chairs, panel chair and panelists, and meeting@apsanet.org know so that we can be sure you are removed from the program. 

Panel Presenters

First and foremost, we recommend downloading the APSA 2021 Participant Instruction Guide. This is a comprehensive document that discusses all program roles and their responsibilities and expectations. 

Additionally, we have a virtual participant page, with a number of resources. We also have FAQs for Virtual Participation>>

APSA will accept requests for schedule changes for those with significant time zone conflicts. Due to the large program, we are unable to make scheduling changes outside of this. Please complete the scheduling request form by May 7 if you would like to request a certain time. 

All iPosters will be virtual presentations this year. Similar to the 2020 virtual meeting, each author will have a scheduled presentation time where they can meet with attendees and discuss their work.

With meetings as large and as complex as ours, the program must be finalized months in advance. Additionally, there are extra complexities of putting on an event with simultaneous in-person and virtual sessions that compress the timeline even more.

Being so close to the event, we are unable to make additional changes to the program, but we certainly understand and recognize the challenges around participation this year.  We developed the pre-recording option in anticipation of these circumstances on short notice.  For individuals who cannot participate on an in-person panel, they can pre-record their presentation. For panels where the majority cannot attend, there is the option to pre-record the full panel as a group.  

We will be sharing the presentations on the meeting platform to be seen before, during, and after the event. There will also be a chat box where panelists and other attendees can engage in a conversation with the presenter.  You can learn more here: https://connect.apsanet.org/apsa2021/pre-recorded-presentations/ We will be circulating guides for discussants on best practices for engaging with pre-recorded presenters to ensure quality feedback and discussion about their work. 

Yes! If you are presenting on a virtual panel but wish to attend the meeting in person, you are more than welcome to do so. Your presentation format does not impact how you must attend the meeting. If you have a virtual presentation but attend in-person, you will just present your panel from your hotel room or another location suitable for your presentation. Please note that while we are working with the venues to secure sufficient internet speed for those presenting on-site, we currently cannot guarantee a strong enough connection for everyone to do this. 

We asked for those who had scheduling request, specifically those with time zone conflicts, to submit these by May 7th. This deadline is determined by the overall planning timeline we set for the meeting. Scheduling must begin in order to complete the preliminary program that many participants use to make personal, travel and hotel arrangements.

When we create the schedule, we prioritize the following factors:

  •  Avoiding scheduling conflicts for those participating on more than one panel.
  • Avoiding any major time zone conflicts. However, this may not always be feasible for panels where presenters are spread across the world.
  • Scheduling by division to ensure one division’s panels do not all fall in one time slot.
  • Taking into account scheduling requests submitted by the May 7th deadline.

First and foremost, please reach out to the division chairs to let them know. they may be able to find a replacement.  

If it is not possible or is too close to the meeting, a few options are available:

If there are no chairs:

  1. You can ask a discussant or author to fill this role.

If there is not a discussant: 

  1. The authors can do a round-robin discussion of papers. If you proceed this way, please let the authors know. Their emails can be found in the online program when you log into the program.
  2. You can ask a chair to fulfill this role.

This year, we offer a lot of flexibility for participating. One such example is our pre-recorded presentations.  This is a great opportunity for participating at your leisure. 

If this also doesn’t work, please notify the following individuals to ensure you are removed from the program:

(1) Division chairs
(2) Panel Chair and panelists (Emails can be located by signing into the online program)
(3) APSA by emailing meeting@apsanet.org 

Health and Safety

Please view our health and safety page for the full list. 

Anyone wishing to attend the APSA Annual Meeting in-person must provide proof of having been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Fully vaccinated means 14 days have passed since your final doseGiven the current environment, we are taking this step to keep our attendees, their families, and communities safe. 

Attendees will only be admitted to APSA’s Annual Meeting with proof of having been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Vaccine verification will include uploading a vaccine card showing proof of full vaccination to Safe Expo’s system for their review and approval. If you are not comfortable uploading your card, you are able to show proof of full vaccination onsite. If you upload your vaccination card and are approved, you will be emailed a purple confirmation. Your card information is then deleted from Safe Expo’s system. You will need to show the vaccine verification purple confirmation in order to pick up/print your badge. To access your vaccine verification purple confirmation, visit the verification upload site and enter your email.  View the full process here>> Since vaccine verification is now required, attendees will not have to do a daily temperature screening. Cards must be uploaded to the Safe Expo portal by Friday, September 24.

Note: Fully vaccinated means 14 days have passed since your final dose. Therefore, you must have received the final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine prior to September 15, 2021, to be considered fully vaccinated. No exceptions will be made to this policy.

Upload your vaccine verification documents now>>

With the constantly evolving Delta variant and after consultations with our health and safety partner and association leadership, we have decided to update APSA’s attendance policy to require that anyone wishing to attend the APSA Annual Meeting in-person must provide proof of having been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Fully vaccinated means 14 days have passed since your final doseGiven the current environment, we are taking this step to keep our attendees, their families, and communities safe. 

Attendees will only be admitted to APSA’s Annual Meeting with proof of having been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

Vaccine verification will include uploading a vaccine card showing proof of full vaccination to Safe Expo’s system for their review and approval. If you are not comfortable uploading your card, you are able to show proof of full vaccination onsite. If you upload your vaccination card and are approved, you will be emailed a purple confirmation. Your card information is then deleted from Safe Expo’s system. You will need to show the purple confirmation in order to pick up/print your badge. Since vaccine verification is now required, attendees will not have to do a daily temperature screening. Cards must be uploaded to the Safe Expo portal by Friday, September 24.

Note: Fully vaccinated means 14 days have passed since your final dose. Therefore, you must have received the final dose of a COVID-19 vaccine prior to September 15, 2021, to be considered fully vaccinated. No exceptions will be made to this policy.

Fully vaccinated means 14 days have passed since your final dose. For attendees, this date is September 15, 2021

With the rise of the Delta variant, we want to ensure our event is as safe as possible to protect our attendees and their families, those who live in our host city, Seattle, and all of the other communities our attendees will return to post-event. We believe this is the responsible way to hold an event at the current time. Health and safety is of utmost importance to APSA.  Our experienced health and safety provider has recommended this step, and Washington State and the CDC do not recommend travel unless fully vaccinated. 

International proof of vaccination is also accepted through the portal and follows WHO guidance for acceptable vaccines.  Please upload it to the portal by September 24. If you have any questions on the vaccinces accepted, please email ambassador@safeexpo.org.

You can show your vaccine card onsite if you’ve forgotten to upload it prior to arrival.  Proof of vaccination must be shown onsite in order to access the meeting space and APSA events. No exceptions will be made. If you are providing international proof of vaccination onsite, please email ambassador@safeexpo.org in advance to confirm. International proof of vaccination is based off the World Health Organization’s list of approved vaccines. 

At the screening station on the first day, you will need to show the confirmation PDF and QR code from Safe Expo. You do not need to show your vaccine card if you have already been approved. However, you may want to bring your card with you to Seattle as many restaurants and businesses in the city are starting to require them for entrance. 
View restaurants and venues that require vaccines>>

All attendees must be fully vaccinated to attend the in-person event. No exceptions will be made. 

We do welcome you participate virtually. We also now offer the opportunity for participants to pre-record their presentations. The pre-recorded presentations will be featured on the virtual platform and will have a chatbox for feedback from panelists and other attendees. These presentations will be available before, during, and after the event for up to six months. To participate in this opportunity, sign up here.

Safe Expo Health & Safety Screening Stations will be located:

Washington State Convention Center Fourth FloorWednesday, September 29 – Sunday, October 3
Sheraton Wednesday, September 29 – Sunday, October 3
The Conference CenterThursday, September 30 – Sunday, October 3 

Attendees will need to pass through a screening station prior to picking up and printing their badge. All attendees must be badged and registered to be in APSA meeting space and events. Before picking up your badge, you will need to show the vaccine-verified purple confirmation screen you received:

You can also access this  by logging into the upload site with your email or scanning this QR code:

If you do not have the purple confirmation, please visit the Safe Expo staff at a screening station to show your proof of vaccination. 

Note: Badge pick up and registration is only at the Washington State Convention Center. If you are showing proof of vaccination onsite, please ensure it’s complete with 14 days having passed since your final dose. You can stop by the Sheraton or The Conference Center in advance to present your documentation and get your confirmation of being vaccine verified.  If you are providing international proof of vaccination onsite, please email ambassador@safeexpo.org in advance to confirm that the vaccine is on the WHO’s list of approved vaccines. 

Other APSA Events

Most section business meetings have been encouraged to take place virtually he week before the Annual Meeting (September 21-24) to allow both virtual and in-person attendees to participate. Some groups are also holding their receptions virtually this same week. 

Other groups will hold in-person business meetings and receptions in Seattle the week of the in-person event. A few virtual receptions will also be held during the week of September 28. 

There will be an in-person exhibit hall in addition to a virtual exhibit hall. Virtual attendees will be able to set up appointments to virtually meet with the exhibitors. All in-person exhibitors will have a virtual exhibit listing, so virtual attendees will still have access to all exhibitors.

There is a Career Fair taking place on Thursday, September 30, from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. in the Exhibit Hall in Seattle.

An interview room is also available by reservation onsite. To make a reservation, email dsp@apsanet.org. 

On the virtual platform, a series of Ask Me Anythings (AMA) will be held on Thursday, 9/30, at 10:00 a.m. A Graduate School Information Fair will be held on Saturday, 10/1, at 9:00 a.m. 

If you are unable to attend your in-person panel in Seattle, APSA is excited to offer the new opportunity to pre-record your individual presentation. Pre-recorded presentations allow presenters to pre-record their 15-minute presentation in Zoom to share on the virtual meeting platform. Pre-recorded presenters will still receive feedback from panel discussants, and we will encourage them to work the video into discussions onsite and share relevant points from the onsite discussion with the pre-recorded presenters. This format also provides the opportunity to make your presentation available to a wider audience before, during, and after the conference, while also creating a polished presentation that you can save to your portfolio. Learn more and sign up here>>

View our Pre-Record FAQs

Livestreaming Sessions will be sessions that take place in Seattle at the in-person event that will be broadcast to the virtual platform in real-time for viewing. See the sessions here>>

Email us at meeting@apsanet.org, and we will be happy to help!