2024 Annual Meeting Participant Survey Results

Our 2024 Annual Meeting Participant Survey has collected valuable insights into attendees’ responses to the Albuquerque meeting and is a window into the priorities and needs of our participants in the present moment. As AFS continues to navigate the changing landscape of constraints and opportunities in our field and the larger world, the participant survey helps us gauge what worked well in 2024 and what may need revision for future meetings. 

The 2024 survey garnered a total of 127 responses, and around 64% of respondents rated the meeting 8 out of 10 or above on a scale where 10 is rated highest.  Respondents’ participation was weighted to those participating In-Person only (71% of the responses). 19% of survey respondents attended both In-Person and Virtually, and 10% of respondents participated only in the virtual conference. 

Ahead of the survey, AFS leadership was aware of several shortcomings at this year’s meeting– most significantly the problematic physical conditions of the conference rooms and hotel and some a/v aspects of our meeting. Nevertheless, the meeting exceeded expectations for many participants.

“The 2024 annual meeting was very productive for me. I was impressed by the range of opportunities for students, faculty, and those working outside of academia.” 

“I really enjoyed the sessions – this year in particular, they seemed to speak to/build on each other directly. I presented a paper and for the rest of the day, each of the sessions I attended also spoke to the topics I had written about from a different perspective. I felt in conversation with others on another level.”

“I had not been to AFS much in recent years, so this was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with colleagues and the field. I appreciated the number of programs that were meaningful to me from a public sector perspective. The social evening programs were fun. Loved the notebooks! FourWaves was helpful during the planning phase, although it really needs to be more usable in a mobile/smartphone environment.”

“It was an important time to be with colleagues you could trust. The great heartbreak of the week seemed to make conversations, presentations, panels, and discussions all that more relevant.”

This year we brought back the Print Program through pre-orders and limited additional sales onsite. The Print Program PDF has been available online (in its various updates) since September.  As the meeting approached and the new conference platform was used to generate Print Program Schedules, Exports, Abstracts and other resources, we appreciate your patience as we made corrections to materials.  People were excited by the print publications, including lobby copies, but observed that over and under quantities should be reviewed to limit environmental concerns. The Notebook Cover Art, design and contents of all the publications were praised. The satisfaction with the online programs and print programs were varied for participants.

“It was so wonderful to have a print program again. It is great for a less obtrusive browsing during panels and to not engage with my phone as much during the conference. This helped me to not be engaging with ignorable work, social media, etc., and be present with the conference. “

“I would have liked to have a print program but didn’t realize until I checked in that it required pre-ordering and payment. (I think this is odd considering that there was a surplus of specially-printed free notebooks, which were really nice by the way.)”

“Still wedded to the print program, though I do scout out the terrain when the online program emerges.”

“I love the idea of the notebook with cover designed by local artist. I used mine throughout the conference, and I think it’s a great keepsake for conference participants and a great opportunity for a local artist. It’s especially cool that attendees had the opportunity to meet the artist at the conference.“

“I couldn’t really understand the online schedule. I don’t know if there is a way to streamline it more. Maybe have a section with a day’s overview.”

Over 58% of respondents included unfavorable feedback about the hotel and conference center. Both venues have shortfalls that are now well documented, and we deeply regret the negative experience for those through our visit–smell, heat, sound concerns–every day we were on site. The facilities were overwhelmingly voted as in poor condition. The AFS team was as responsive as possible as these issues impacted our members and guests and created unnecessary changes and interruptions of the meeting. 

“The meeting was fabulous.  The facilities were less than stellar – varying temperatures, that smell.”

“The venue was awful. The rooms were small, stuffy, cooking hot, and stunk of mold and sewage.”

“Truly–the physical discomfort of the location bled into so much. I found it so difficult to attend sessions–much less present at my own–due to the heat.”

“..the venue, however, was pretty awful. Hot, stinky, and far from places to eat.”

With Live broadcasts and hybrid offerings during the Albuquerque days and fully virtual sessions offered later, reactions were varied on the Annual Meeting’s virtual offerings:

“I am not in favor of the amount of time/energy spent on hybrid and virtual meeting, a completely compromised experience.”

“I attended most of the Virtual Panels at the online conference. I found the scope of papers to be excellent.”

“I liked the in-person meeting followed by the virtual meeting, with time to rest in-between. I liked keeping the virtual offerings to two days.”

“I highly value the hybrid sessions and recordings for members who can’t attend in person.”

“Most sessions I went to had significant AV trouble. From taking a long time to set up at the beginning, to the projectors overheating/not working right, to needing like 40 minutes to get a documentary going due to projection issues. Something really needs to be improved with this.”

“There were problems with the technology in most of the sessions I attended. Some equipment, like projectors, would just shut down with no warning. Others had problems connecting. I think the AFS tech team did a very good job of keeping everything limping along, and that the tech problems were the fault of the venue rather than AFS.”

The Local Organizing Committee worked hard to facilitate a variety of engagements within the region, navigate uncertain weather and changes to trips. New Mexico was a welcome and enjoyable host.

“Special tours and excursions filled up quickly — more experiences like this, please.”

“More presentations from local artists! I know the snow stopped some folks from attending the first day, but the absence was noted at main events.”

“I loved everything about this conference. The opening with the Lone Piñon and the traditional dances of New Mexico was my favorite. I also really appreciated this organization having a Chicana/o studies section. Since this was my first time attending, I was nervous about meeting people but everyone was so friendly.”

“I enjoyed those events and experiences that highlighted local perspectives. This gave me a sense of place, of where our meeting was taking place. It is very important for me how AFS with our annual meeting is entering communities and positioning itself. To see this kind of participation, whether at session, keynote, morning wellness session, or workshop, speaks volumes to me as it shows we are opening up the organization to different people and opportunities for members to engage the local, meaningfully.”

The meeting continues to provide enrichment and meaning to our members, through its numerous sessions, allowing the opportunity for participants to focus narrowly on topics through curated programming, taking a deep dive; or to survey a variety of approaches and topics, dipping in and out. Some enjoy a little of both, developing new interests and engaging with colleagues new to them. 

“I love the requirement for all sections to put together a guide and have it formatted in a uniform way. This also requires us, as section conveners, to engage with the program in advance which is nice to do.”

“The forums…encouraged a deeper level of conversation and discussion among participants rather than the one-by-one paper reading of panels. The forums somehow seemed more relevant for the work that I do.”

“I have always loved the way the AMs have always welcomed scholars and grad students and have done their best to accommodate them in whatever capacity they can, be it financially or academically. The themes of many sessions, especially the ones focusing on minority groups, felt validating and liberating. The attendees have always been very welcoming and helpful and this reflects in the way the established scholars converse and support the students in the meeting.”

“Choosing a session was overwhelming because there were too many, but also because it seemed like all the good sessions were happening at the same time. For example, the session I presented in ran at the same time as sessions on similar topics. This was frustrating because I would have loved to attend all those sessions. I think it would be better to have less concurrent sessions AND to set up themes vertically rather than horizontally (for example to have a session on ‘organizing’ occur every hour versus having all sessions on organizing occur in the same hour).”

The meeting on the whole was impactful, and participants reflected on the challenges and opportunities of the moment in our field.

“People’s basic needs need to be met before they can address the global storm or build solidarity. This meeting showed me that across the field, precarity is affecting everyone. AFS needs to do more to support precarious folklorists around the country, especially LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC scholars and folk artists.”

“I am from India and I have been participating every year since 2016. The AFS annual meeting and conference is a platform that fosters a strong sense of community, welcoming participants from all across the globe from diverse cultural and professional backgrounds.”

Thank you to everyone who contributed  to making the meeting a success and navigating the complications that were part of this year’s convening. Continue reading about the meeting with this summary of the 2024 meeting activities.