APA's conventions through the century

By Raymond D. Fowler, PhD
APA Chief Executive Officer

It's convention time again. Time for APA members to gather together and talk psychology, as they have for more than a century. Because our upcoming 107th Annual Convention in Boston Aug. 20-24, will be the last convention of the millennium, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the importance of APA conventions in the past and take a look at where they might be heading in the future.

From the beginning, the annual meeting has played a central role in shaping and binding APA as an organization. The first annual meeting was held less than six months after APA was founded. Starting with a charter membership of 26, APA had grown 19 percent--by five new members--by the time the fledgling organization held its first gathering on Dec. 27, 1892, in Philadelphia. The December date was chosen to coincide with the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Meeting with another group had some advantages in those days: Before 1900, APA membership averaged less than 100, hardly enough for a meeting even if everyone came.

Attendance growth

APA meetings were held between Christmas and New Year's until 1928. Many of the early meetings were held with the AAAS, but APA also met with a number of other organizations including the American Anthropological Association and the American Philosophical Association. In 1929, the meeting was subsumed by an international meeting in New Haven, Conn., which is why this is our 107th rather than our 108th convention. That meeting marked the first time an international psychology meeting--the ninth International Congress--was held in America. The 750 people who attended included 150 Europeans and most of the psychologists in the United States.

The shift to independent meetings held in late summer began in 1929, and meetings were usually held at universities where dormitory accommodations were available. By 1951, APA had outgrown university campuses, and most members had outgrown dormitory life, so meetings were subsequently held in hotels. Since 1892, an annual meeting has been held every year, but during World Wars I and II, meetings were sometimes truncated into a business meeting only.

For many years, the annual meeting was APA's principal activity. It is now only one among hundreds, but it is still one that encourages the greatest participation among members. In 1970, around 2,000 people participated in convention programs; this year that figure is over 5,000. Compared with other associations, APA conventions are well attended, with 12,000 to 18,000 people typically attending each year. Our Centennial convention, held in Washington, D.C., in 1992, attracted our biggest attendance ever--nearly 20,000 registrants.

Bewildering, never boring

This year's convention in Boston will most likely draw a big crowd, as do most meetings along the East Coast corridor and those in San Francisco. Conventions always attract disproportionately from surrounding areas and universities, so rotating the location of the meeting gives more of our members a chance to attend. There are only a few cities that can accommodate the APA meeting because of our need for more than 5,000 hotel rooms and 120 meeting rooms all within walking distance of each other. With over 120 sessions to choose from every hour, the convention can be bewildering, but it is rarely boring.

As the convention has grown over the years, the Board of Convention Affairs (BCA) has worked hard to determine ways to keep the meeting both manageable and meaningful for our very diverse membership. In response to member concerns, BCA has been working with a Convention Restructuring Group, made up of senior APA staff, to explore new ways of organizing the convention to make better use of time and space. Some of the ideas being explored include increasing the opportunity for participation in the convention through poster sessions, using evening hours for substantive programming, and reducing the length of the convention. BCA is also working with APA's Continuing Education Office to explore ways to allow attendees to earn CE credit for daytime convention programs or plenary sessions that would be coordinated evening CE workshops.

BCA will begin to test some pilot initiatives at both the 1999 and 2000 conventions, without making fundamental changes to the meeting structure. APA will also explore ways to give psychology away to people residing in the cities where the meetings are held though public programs that allow psychologists to share their expertise with various community organizations. These public programs would be launched at the 2000 convention in Washington, D.C.--a wonderful way for APA to begin a new millennium of conventions.



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