LETTER TO REGISTRANTS FOR THE 2020 BOSTON MEETING—NOW VIRTUAL
Copy of e-mail sent to Annual Meeting registrants on July 23, 2020
Dear ASOR Friends and Colleagues,
As you have undoubtedly read in various ASOR outlets, the COVID-19 pandemic forced ASOR to move to a virtual meeting out of concern for the safety and well-being of our members and staff.
We (and all of the ASOR staff) will miss seeing you in Boston. The Annual Meeting has been the highlight of our year because it is the time when we get to connect in person with the larger ASOR family. We know that the same is true for our members—even as we all realize that the pandemic left us with no other choice.
While we will miss seeing everyone, ASOR is embracing the opportunity to develop a virtual event that can deliver the robust content of our 2020 academic program in a manner that will serve our community most effectively. We have even had a few members register for the Virtual Meeting who would not have been able to attend in person!
The Virtual Meeting will include both prerecorded presentations and synchronous discussion of research. We are in the process of consulting with the ASOR Program Committee and Session/Workshop Chairs about the requirements for our academic program. The schedule and format of the virtual meeting will be announced (in early August) after we finalize the selection of a third-party virtual partner in light of this consultation. All of this takes some time, and we appreciate your patience as we rework the meeting into a successful virtual experience.
In the meantime, we also want to review some logistics…
- Hotel Reservations: If you made a reservation at the Westin Boston Waterfront, your room should have been cancelled automatically. You should have received an e-mail with that cancellation. If you did not receive an e-mail (please check junk mail), we encourage you to review your Bonvoy (Marriott) online account or to contact the hotel (800-937-8461) to confirm that your room has been cancelled.
- Conference Registrations: Even though we anticipate greater costs to produce the virtual meeting than an in-person meeting, ASOR has made a commitment to make the Virtual Meeting accessible to the entire ASOR family.
- Scholarships: ASOR will meet 100% of scholarship requests for registrations for anyone that has been negatively impacted (directly or indirectly) by COVID-19. In addition, if someone is not currently a member, we will provide membership scholarships on a first-come, first-served basis. To apply, simply e-mail asor2020@asor.org with a brief request.
- Transfer your registration—choose one of the following two options:
- Do nothing and your registration will be transferred: Your previously paid fee will be applied to the virtual meeting registration. The difference (if any) between the two rates will help ASOR cover our increased costs of the virtual conference and for scholarships. Click here for Virtual Meeting Registration rates.
- Request a credit to your ASOR account for any overage: E-mail asor2020@asor.org by August 25, 2020.
- Credits can be used for any future ASOR purchase
- Alternatively, you can request a refund check for the difference
- Cancellation / Refund: If you do not wish to participate in the Virtual Annual Meeting, we ask that you cancel by choosing one of these three options. Please send your request to asor2020@asor.org by August 25, 2020.
- You may request a refund check (the usual administrative fees are waived)
- You may request a credit to your ASOR account (future memberships, meetings, etc.)
- You may designate the registration fee as a donation towards scholarships
Last, but certainly not least, we hope that you and all of the ASOR community are safe and managing these unprecedented circumstances in good health. All of us at ASOR look forward to seeing you online in November!
Warm regards,
Andy Vaughn, ASOR Executive Director (executive-director@asor.org)
Arlene Press, ASOR Director of Meetings & Events (meetings@asor.org)