Friends:
 
First of all, please note that I am not griping, carping, or otherwise
throwing water on the efforts of SHA convention organizers!  Anyone who is
willing to take on the task deserves all of our appreciation for the
tremendous effort that such an undertaking involves...  Kudos to Pat Garrow et
al. for the well attended and successful Atlanta meetings!
 
But, having attended at least sporadically since the 1979 Nashville meetings,
I have always noted one problem or another with each meeting venue, often
recurrent ones that seem to plague the sessions year after year.  After 30
years of meeting organization experience, there should exist a file that lists
common problems that have plagued meetings, and common good things that have
made meetings more memorable.  If such a list does not exist, I'd like to
throw out a few ideas that crossed my mind as a result of Atlanta.
 
Good Ideas:
 
1)  Coffee was available all day throughout the sessions.  Too often in the
past, the coffee was served stingily and at very restricted times.
2)  Good, reasonably priced lunch food was available to the conference
attendees.  Price gouging was not a problem.  Even the alcohol prices were
reasonable ($3.75/pint for imported or micro-brew draft).
3)  Sessions seemed to be well organized and on-time.
4)  Overall costs were quite reasonable, at least for the Americans.
 
Problem areas:
 
1)  My major complaint was the venue location.  The hotel, although an
excellent physical space and quite comfortable, was an island in the sterile
suburbs.  There were no sites or sights, let alone alternate restaurants
within walking distance.  I, probably like many, never left the hotel for the
duration of the conference.  Yes, I know some good bus trips were available,
but thats not the answer.  All I saw of Atlanta was the airport and the
freeway.  If we're going to highlight an historic urban location for
conferences, let's put them at some appropriate location, e.g., 1996
Cincinnati meetings.
2)  Dividing the housing between 3-4 hotels with inadequate transportation
links.  That was perhaps the worst feature of the conference.  It fragmented
and defused a lot of social gatherings that are major components of the
conference.  Shuttle service between the two major facilities terminated at 11
PM, even on the night of the banquet.  Despite the fact that this was one of
the largest SHA meeting with over 1000 in attendance, I had the constant
impression of a meeting about half that size.  I would strongly suggest that
we limit our conferences to facilities that cover at least 80-90% of the
attendees or at least keep the hotels within a real city block or two of each
other.
3)  What's up with these 8 AM paper sessions?  This is a double-edged sword
that disservices both the presenters and the audience.  NO PAPERS BEFORE 9
AM!!!  Maybe add a few short evening sessions for the overflow and for the
people that may want to do something other than drink after 4:30 PM.  The SAA
has been doing this at least once in a while.
 
Any more comments from other attendees or list members???  Mike Polk, the
organizer of 1999 Salt Lake City meetings,  is probably lurking out there...
 
Respectfully,
 
Mark C. Branstner
Great Lakes Research Associates, Inc.