Results - Preferences Concerning the National AAPT Meetings Fall 2001

The information below was collected via an online form by Frank Peterson, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa 50011-3160. fcp@iastate.edu, 515-294-3875, FAX 515-294-6027. Last update: January 17, 2002. He also collected other responses sent to him in the mail. Those results have not been added to the table below.

Repondent	Venue		Location		Dates		Comments
Repondent	Winter	Summer	Winter	Summer	Winter	Summer	Comments
Curtiis Hieggelke Illinois Section Rep	convention hotel	combination	Southern part of the US	Northern part of the US	would like to try near the end of January starting on Friday running to Monday	early August -also starting on Friday running to Monday	Select hotels that have low cost (and quick) options nearby for eating. Locations should also be served by the major airlines (United, American, Delta, Northwest).
David Renneke Illinois Reporter and Webmaster	convention hotel	combination	warm climate	move around the USA and Canada	January at the Council discretion	Late July or early August	I have attended 10 summer meetings and have enjoyed all of them.
Steven Hoffmaster Washington State	None	None	Warm Site	None	Early January, First 10 days	August	Repeated use of the same site should be avoided, if at all possible
Oren Quist South Dakota I am the Section Rep.	convention center/hotel	university setting if possible	Winter meetings should be in the south -- where it's warm!!	Summer meetings should not be in the south -- too warm!!	There is no good date if you are teaching classes!! Probably the later the better.	I think the last week in July would be preferable to the first week in August, but either is ok.	You've been doing pretty well (except for Philly in January). Keep up the good work.
Randy Peterson Tennessee Laboratory 1	inexpensive rooms and registration	inexpensive rooms and registration	It is best to select a place with economical air fares from many cities.	I like to experience other colleges, but economics are most important.	The later the meetings occur, the more expensive everything becomes. H.S. teachers may not want to come during the first week because of classes starting, but they don't have the $1,000. to come at any date.	This early August seems to work best. Many teachers are done with summer courses and have not started the fall school year. Colleges are more likely to host our meetings.	The reluctance to return to the same location in Orlando that we have used twice over the last decade because some people were tired of the location bothers me. It was a location that suited our meeting style and it was economical for our members staying in the conference hotel or staying in one of the very inexpensive hotels down the street. We are pricing meetings for attendance by a small, select group of those few who can afford the meetings. The absolute last reason for selecting a meeting site is because of the interesting sites and activities in the surrounding community. When selecting a meeting site, we should always remember, as Leon Lederman has so forcefully stated, PHYSICS FIRST.
Steve Shropshire Idaho-Utah Section Representative	Convention Hotel or Convention Center	Whatever is cheaper for AAPT	Florida, Southern California, New Orleans, .. Warm.	Keep it diverse	As early in January as possible	Late July, or early August
Margaret Gjertsen NC	convention center	combination or college	should change around so everyone can get to one close by	should change around so everyone can get to one close by	after mid January	late July or early August
Larry Martin Chicago Secretary	whichever is cheaper	whichever is cheaper, but air-conditioning available	no preference	no preference, variation is nice	early January	either 2nd week of August, or mid-July	Make it a cruise meeting some year.
Gordon Shepherd North Carolina	choices?	choices?	Warmer climates would encourage family trips but I am adaptable.	Summer makes the whole country a possible good site for a meeting.	All of those dates are after schools have started so all are equal.	Early in August most schools haven't started and so are better than mid Aug.	I have always appreciated meetings I've gone to that have distributed a list of all attendees. This promotes exchanges of ideas after the meeting is over. E-mail contacts are especially helpful and a similar list given out or made available at the meetings would be very valuable. We usually only get those for the presenters at our AAPT meetings. Would this be a possibility?
Thomas O'Kuma Texas	Some warm US city	some college or university site	some warm US city	some mid to northern US city	third or fourth week in January or even 1st week in February	really prefer the last of June, otherwise, the last week of July/1st week of August	The registration fees are way too high for most potential meeting attendees. The workshop fees are also way too high. Try to find meeting hotels that are reasonable or at least that there are other hotel choices nearby that are reasonable.
Eric Carlson North Carolina North Carolina	none	none	none, though obviously near North Carolina is preferable	none, though obviously near North Carolina is preferable	It is difficult to go whenever it is held	no opinion	Attending such a conference is not a high priority for me, since I prefer spending time with my family
Lloyd Davis North Carolina	none	college campus	none	centrally located	early January	Early August
Bill Junkin Southeastern	either is fine	either is fine	no preference	no preference	early to mid January	No later than the first week of August
Machele Cable North Carolina		College or University		Somewhere cool!		Early August is better.	Having the meeting in conjunction with a hotel/conference center really increases the costs. Being that most attendants are from high schools, cost should be a major factor in decision making!
Bob Beichner North Carolina		campus		Diversity is good.	These are almost always during the early part of the semester, which is the worst time to miss class.	Early August works well.	I would prefer to see the winter meetings cancelled. There have been several times where I've had to fly in to give a workshop and then fly back for the first week of class. There have been other times when I've decided not to go at all because of the timing. I can't be the only one who has this problem.
William McNairy Chair, Professional Concerns Comm.	convention	convention	None	None	First two weeks of January.	Late July.	Key concern is affordability. While staying at convention hotel is expensive, it was additionally difficult to find inexpensive dining alternatives during the weekend in Rochester. The list of good restaurants provided by AAPT was helpful-- I'd really appreciate a similar map/list of nearby inexpensive dining (eg McDonalds or coffee shops) AND novelties (drugstore, 5/10, WalMart etc) for easy use during the meeting. By Wednesday I had been able to locate some superb inexpensive diners and drugstores, but they were hidden. Eating in Hyatt was 3-5 times as expensive as eating elsewhere. Thanks!
Gerald W. Meisner NCS	convention hotel or center	campus if possible	SW (TX, AZ, nm), CA, New Orleans	cultural or recreational opportunities near by if possible	no preference	start in early august	you folks do a very fine job.
Larry Ward North Carolina	Cheaper of the 2	Cheaper of the 2	Intermediate or warm weather sites. Definitely not cold, too much travel uncertainty.	Does not matter-- close to me is preferred.	Third week of January to 3rd week of February.	Second week of July.	Having a special meeting for first timers this summer was a good idea. However, having it after I had been there for 2 days and at 7 or so in the morning was not.
Hal Pierce North Carolina NA North Carolina			Raleigh, NC	Raleigh, NC	Same	August	As a high school teacher, I had difficulty in being able to leave my classes to attend the meetings. However, I am now retired so my schedule is more flexible. The other major concern is financial - as a high school teacher, active and now retired, the cost of the transportation, registration, and hotel accommodations would have had to be paid by me. Many of the attendees are associated with colleges that have a travel budget, unlike my public high school system. A system should be developed so that high school teachers can receive renewal credit in the form of a certificate stating the hours attended that is given at the end of the conference by the national association; otherwise, it is impossible for me to receive the renewal credit to renew my teaching certificate. My time and financial resources must be used to pursue renewal credit workshops.
George L. Hazelton NC	convention hotel	college	Atlanta, Raleigh, NC	Mid south	None	None
AOK	Convention center or campus	Campus only	South, warm location	Anywhere is fine	Early in January the best for AOK representatives	Early August	Frank, I surveyed the AOK Section this weekend. The answers above were strong majority of the members present. They like the winter meetings at warm weather Hotels and the summer meetings any weather at a college campus. Early January and Early August. Hope to see you next week at Omaha. Todd
Don Hoff ND President and section rep	venue OK but in a warmer local than PA	OK	stay with warmer locations, Philadelphia is too cold	mix it up	all OK	current method OK
Michael F. Weber Hawaii Section rep.	convention hotel or center	college or univ. campus	warm west coast	continue with diverse locations	Sat. prior to Human Rights holiday (thus I don't miss as much class time)	No strong preferences - late July or early Aug. is fine	Keep up the great job! The meetings are superb. One small suggestion - please mail the Announcer a few weeks before each meeting. Last summer I didn't receive my copy in time for the Rochester meeting.
Section Rep Minnesota	Hotel or Conv. Center	College or University	1. Warm location; 2. intermediate	Rotate geographically	1-first week; 2-second week of Jan.	1-first week in Aug.; 2-last week in Jul; 3-last week in June
Vicki Plano Clark Nebraska	no preference	college/univ. campus	Good airport service more important than geographic location	I like the diversity of moving it around	I prefer later in the month so that classes can be in a routine before I leave for AAPT	Late July works best for me	I prefer using campus locations because the total meeting cost (air fare, registration, lodging, and food) to me is typically cheaper. In addition, I usually feel safer at campus locations. I also find the campus atmosphere to be most conducive for talking about physics education issues and promotes more informal discussions between attendees. For me, the Rochester hybrid meeting was very expensive compared to past summer meetings and it provided less of what I hope to get out of a summer AAPT meeting.
Chesapeake	hotel or convention center	combination	"warmer climate"	"cooler climate"	Earlier is better, to avoid conflicts with spring semester start-up	Late July is preferred to avoid conflicts for HS teachers.
Doug Franklin Illinois	hotel or center	hotel or center	warm	don't care	early January	fine as is
Oren Quist South Dakota Section Rep	convention hotel/center	no preference	warm (southern) location	northern location	early enough in January to get best rates for travel and lodging, but late enough to get semester under way.	first week in August
Alan Gibson MI Section Rep	Hotel	College	Warm	Try to keep it moving around the country.	Earlier is better for me. Later meeting conflict with the start of the new semester for high school teachers in the north.	Ok, but it could be earlier	Probably a good idea to change the dates around a little each year so that conflicts could rotate amoung those that like one date or the other.
Hugh Haskell North Carolina Section Rep	Hotel/ Convention Center	University	Warmer Climate	Cooler Climate	Late January	Late July