AAA & ASA agree to reciprocal conference privileges

From the September 2006 Anthropology News:

AAA and African Studies Association Agree to Reciprocal Entry to Annual Meetings
By Bill Davis, AAA Executive Director

The American Anthropological Association and the African Studies Association (ASA) have a standing agreement to prevent, where possible, a conflict in the dates of our annual meetings. Since both organizations typically schedule annual meeting dates several years out, we have been able to achieve that objective in recent years.

This year's unfortunate scheduling conflict is a result of a shift in location and dates for AAA's 2006 Annual Meeting caused by the continuing labor/hotel management dispute in San Francisco.

With the dispute anticipated to remain unsettled during the original dates set for AAA's meeting in San Francisco, AAA's board was forced to relocate its 2006 meetings to San José [California]. Unavoidably, the only dates available in San José brought them into conflict with ASA's planned 2006 meeting.

The ASA's contract, concluded in 2003, is with a hotel that has expressed support for labor's request and is thus exempt from the labor boycott.

AAA greatly regrets the overlap in our 2006 meeting dates, but has been working with the ASA to facilitate member participation in both annual meetings.

AAA and ASA have agreed that a registration badge for either meeting will allow reciprocal entry to the other. Both AAA and ASA value their members' participation in each others' meetings and look forward to successful annual meetings in 2006.

American Anthropological Association: Nov. 15-19, 2006, McEntery Convention Center, San José
African Studies Association: Nov. 16-19, 2006, Westin St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco