After having attended in 2008 and 2009, this will be my fourth AJS conference out of the past six conferences (having attended in 2016, 2018, and 2021).
Just as with attending last year's AJS conference, I am grateful to my employers for permitting and funding my attendance as professional development. In addition to it providing me with intellectual stimulation, it also provides some fascinating fodder for me to bring back to the residents of the senior living facility where I work. In fact, last year, I spoke about highlights of papers I heard; I plan to do similarly this year.
While I enjoyed the intimacy of last year's conference, as many people either decided not to attend in the first place, or decided not to attend in the weeks leading up to the conference (seriously, it was a really fascinatingly small conference-size, allowing a greater opportunity to connect with conference attendees), I hope we do not have another experience of panels collapsing and people presenting papers scrambling to re-assemble a new panel with whomever was left. That was unfortunate and caused people to have to check for updates online for each set of panels.
One thing that will be interesting will be with regards to face masks. While face masks were expected to be worn at all panels and any official conference program (but not in the hotel bar or while eating or drinking), which made sense, as the new variant, Omicron, was on its rise, it will be interesting to see what happens at this year's conference. Fortunately, according to communications sent out by AJS last year, there were no reported cases of COVID-19 following the 2021 conference, which is great news. However, how will people behave at the 2022 conference? A lot of people are over wearing face masks. Nevertheless, the conference website requests people wear masks: "We ask conference attendees to wear masks, fully covering their noses and mouths, when in the AJS convention spaces, unless actively eating, drinking, or presenting in a session. We will have masks available at the registration desk. Please know that neither the Sheraton nor the city of Boston has a mask mandate, so other hotel guests may not be wearing masks." This should prove interesting, as I suspect that a lot of people will wear masks, while many, many others will not.
In any event, I am greatly looking forward to the conference starting in just four days for the intellectual stimulation, new ideas, re-connecting with people I have known for years, and for connecting with people I will be newly be meeting. I'm excited!
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