The American Psychological Association is pleased to announce the 118th Annual APA Convention, August 12-15, 2010, San Diego, CA. We anticipate approximately 12,000 registrants at the meeting.

The upcoming APA convention will be in California's second largest city and the United States' eighth largest—San Diego—boasts a citywide population of nearly 1.3 million residents and more than 3 million residents countywide.  

Some of the Convention highlights include

• APA president Carol D. Goodheart, EdD, is highlighting the subject areas and work of her presidential task forces as well as key areas of interest to APA and psychology. Dr. Goodheart's opening session will highlight the best in psychology, including a presidential citation for former first lady Rosalynn Carter for her leadership on caregiver issues. In addition to the annual Presidential Address, Dr. Goodheart will host a Town Hall Meeting and is co-chairing several discussions on topics including family caregivers, advancing your practice and same-sex marriage.

• A musical performance—the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego will be performing on Friday, August 13, from 7:00-7:50 p.m., at the San Diego Marriott Hotel, San Diego Salon C.

• Each year during the convention, the APA Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP) offers CE credit for selected sessions sponsored by APA divisions and APA governance groups. This year, we expect to offer over 250 sessions for CE credit. There is no additional fee to attend CE sessions; however, there is a processing fee for claiming CE credits.

• Don’t miss the convention plenary sessions—leaders in the field will discuss a number of topics including addiction, health psychology, psychotherapy and more. Featured top speakers include: Karen A. Matthews, PhD, University of Pittsburgh; Daniel L. Schacter, PhD, Harvard University; Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, PhD, Ohio State University; and Sir Michael Rutter, King’s College, London.

• APA is offering two options for visiting the 1,800-acre San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park, world famous for its inhabitants, its role in transforming the quality of captive animals' care, its success in the husbandry of rare and endangered species and its behavioral research programs. The Wild Animal Park is located about 32 miles from downtown San Diego, a trip that takes approximately 50 minutes each way.

• Plus more! 

For more information regarding presenters and/or the programming in general, check the APA Annual Convention website or call the Convention Office at 202-336-6020.

New special APA Annual Convention features include

• Attendee badges with barcodes. Each registrant badge will now have a unique barcode/scannable chip to replace the Expocard. If exhibitors rent a barcode reader for their booth, they can simply scan the attendee’s badge with the reader. In addition, in order to obtain CE credit at CE sessions, registrants will need to scan their barcode into readers at the entrance to the meeting room when they enter and when they leave the room.

• InPsychSanDiego. APA launched InPsychSanDiego, an online social network, in early July. Access is only for convention registrants. You can find and talk to your friends and colleagues attending the APA convention by using InPsychSanDiego! During the convention, if registrants would like to find out if a friend or colleague is attending the convention, they can use the online locator available in the Cyber Café (sponsored by Pearson) located in the Exhibit Hall.

New special APA Exhibit Hall features include 

• Visa gift card giveaway. Attendees who complete a brief exhibit hall survey will be entered to win a $100 Visa gift card. Daily drawings of seven Visa gift cards will occur at 2:00 p.m. (Thursday, August 12–Saturday August 14) and 10:00 a.m. (Sunday, August 15). Winners may use the Visa gift card to purchase products and/or services from the many vendors inside the exhibit hall or the APA Store during the APA convention!  Employees and immediate family of the American Psychological Association, APA exhibitors and dependents/spouses/guests of full registrants are not eligible to win.

• Margarita hour. From 3:00-4:00 p.m. on Friday, August 13, attendees can enjoy a complimentary margarita while they tour the exhibit hall.

• PsycCareers job fair. Beginning this year, convention attendees can connect with prospective employers prior to the convention through the brand new PsycCareers Job Fair, available through PsycCareers. The system flags jobs and candidates so they are associated with the convention. All interview scheduling and communication between employers and job seekers take place outside the Job Fair system. When they arrive on-site, convention attendees can find job opportunities and career resources inside the APA Exhibit Hall. Registrants can meet with employers in the employer booths as well as browse jobs, access career resources and get hands-on demonstrations at the PsycCareers booth.

• Arts & crafts pavilion. This pavilion—new in 2010—is where vendors will sell custom-made jewelry, aromatherapy candles, clothing, crafts, pottery, door knob handles and much more!

Additional Exhibit Hall features 

• A special exhibits-only hour. On Thursday, August 12, from 4:00–5:00 p.m., attendees will have an exhibits-only hour—one hour free from any other convention programming so that they can spend uninterrupted time in the exhibit hall. Attendees will be invited to browse the exhibits during this time.

• Coffee with the authors. Attendees will be invited to join exhibitors on Saturday, August 14, from 10:00-11:00 a.m., for author signings in individual booths (of both book and test publishers). Coffee will be served on the show floor. 

In addition to the exhibits-only hour and coffee with the authors, the APA Exhibit Hall will also include other traffic-generating features such as the cyber café (sponsored by Pearson), a massage break lounge, raffles, poster sessions, food concessions and more!

It may be helpful to have the following information on hand when planning your attendance:

• Exhibit booth installation. Wednesday, August 11, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. and Thursday, August 12, 6:00–7:00 a.m.

• Exhibit dates and hours. Thursday, August 12, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Friday, August 13, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Saturday, August 14, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; and Sunday, August 15, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon.

• Exhibit booth dismantling. Sunday, August 15, 12:00 noon – 8:00 p.m. and Monday, August 16, 8:00 a.m. – 12 noon.

• Sales tax. Exhibitors selling merchandise (including order taking) are required to apply for and obtain a Temporary Seller’s Permit in the State of California. For more information, contact the California State Board of Equalization, (800) 400-7115 or (916) 227-6600 (Out of State Business Field Office), or visit the Board of Equalization website.

If you need additional information regarding exhibits and/or advertising and sponsorship opportunities, please contact, Mona Alcazar (e-mail, 202-336-5627), Exhibit Sales Manager, or Jodi Ashcraft (e-mail, 202-336-5565), Advertising & Exhibits Sales Director, in the APA Advertising & Exhibit Sales Office.

See you in San Diego!