Menu

Login

|

Register

|

My Cart

APSA’s Siting Policy

In siting its meetings and conferences, particularly the Annual Meeting, the American Political Science Association strives to ensure that meeting locations are accessible and welcoming to all APSA members. With every location, there are competing factors from within the siting decision, and we do our best to balance the factors when making a selection. The current siting policy, developed in collaboration with Council in 2008 and reviewed in 2019, is as follows:  
 
 

1. Geographically accessible siting: APSA will strive to site meetings in areas that are geographically accessible both to travel to and to travel around.  

We take the climate during the time of the meeting in the city into account. We strive to keep all properties within a half mile of the convention center and not to exceed one mile.

 

a) Rotation of meeting sites: APSA rotates its meetings within North America to increase regional access.  
 

b) National airport accessibility: APSA meetings will be sited in areas that have access to airports with sufficient capacity and accessibility to accommodate a large number of attendees from around the country and the world.  

c) Accessibility to transportation, hospitality, and cultural resources: APSA meetings will be sited in areas with good accessibility to public transportation options as well as hospitality and cultural resources.  

 

d) Contiguous properties: APSA selects locations with adequate hotel space within walking distance of meeting rooms*.  

 

2. Low costs: In determining the siting and timing of meetings APSA will strive to keep attendee costs as low as possible. This increases accessibility for members with relatively fewer resources including graduate students, community college faculty and faculty at non-PhD granting departments. 
 
To help keep costs as low as possible, we review meeting dates based on the hotel cost, as well as airport load and average fare costs. When reviewing proposals, we look closely at the hotel room rates, and select the hotels across as wide of a spectrum of pricing, tiers, and brands as the city offerings and distance from the convention center allow.

 

3. Welcoming atmosphere: APSA will make siting decisions such that all members have a reasonable basis for feeling welcome to attend the meeting.  
 
APSA looks at the Human Rights Campaign’s rankings for the city and state when evaluating the location. We conduct site visits to the cities to ensure there are family-friendly attractions and venues, as well as accessible facilities.

 

a) Non-discrimination and minority rights: Discriminatory settings and policies that abridge any member’s rights clearly make a welcoming atmosphere impossible to achieve. APSA will not site meetings or conferences in locations with policies and practices that discriminate against members for their actual or perceived gender, gender identity, race, color, national origin, sexual orientation, physical handicap, disability, or religion.  

 

b) Family-friendly setting: Feeling welcome extends to personal relationships as well as to professional ones. APSA endorses “family-friendly” policy in professional life and strives to make siting decisions such that members with families feel welcome at APSA meetings and conferences.  

 

c) Accessible facilities: APSA works closely with our hotel partners to assure accessibility to facilities at our meeting, including American Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance and full accessibility for transgender members. We provide other reasonable accommodations to members notifying us of their needs.  

 

4. Organized labor: APSA shall make every effort to give preference to a suitable unionized hotel and/or service provider, cost considerations being otherwise similar.  
 
APSA looks at the Fair Hotels site and includes language in its contracts about labor disputes.
 
5. Sustainability: APSA is cognizant of the environmental consequences of holding large meetings and is committed to working closely with the hospitality industry and local visitor bureaus to make the local sites as green as possible, cost considerations, and the quality of meeting services otherwise similar.  
 
APSA requests all venues submit their sustainability practices for evaluation.

 

 

6. Partnership with the convention and hospitality industry: APSA strives to work with local Convention Visitors Bureaus (CVBs), hotel chains, and other vendors in ways that build long-term positive relationships because such relationships are good business and assure APSA of favorable terms for its meetings in the long run. APSA also strives to work with minority and/or women-owned businesses and contractors where circumstances allow. 
 
Request for Proposals are sent to the Convention Visitor Bureaus (CVBs), starting the partnership with the organization off from the very first step. Relationships are maintained with CVBs, hoteliers, and vendors to create long-lasting partnerships.

Siting & Planning an Annual Meeting

5-7 Years Out 
 
The process for planning an Annual Meeting of this size starts five to seven years in advance of the meeting to ensure space and desirable room rates are available. Taking the criteria into consideration, the Meetings Team, in conjunction with the Executive Director and Meetings Policy Committee, will develop a list of locations to consider distributing a Request for Proposals to.  
 
With the help of a third-party vendor, a comprehensive Request for Proposals will be created and sent to the cities.  
 
Proposals are received and reviewed against the criteria
 
The list is narrowed down to 2-3 options that may be a good fit, and site visits to those cities to see the space, package, etc. commence. 
 
After the site visit, a recommendation will be made to the Executive Director and the Meetings Policy Committee on the best city package for the event 
 
The city/CVB sends a letter of interest/intent that we sign to indicate our commitment and that holds the CVB to putting the desired dates on hold 
 
APSA Legal-approved contract templates are sent to the HQ property and the larger overflow properties. Terms and conditions are negotiated with the hotels. Once a satisfactory point is reached between all parties, the contracts are signed. 
 

 

2-4 Years in Advance  
 
1-2 years in Advance 
9 Months – 1 Year Out 
 
6-9 Months Out 
 
3-6 Months Out 
3 Months Out 
 
2 Months Out 
 
1 Month Out