Submitting an Annual Meeting Proposal: Start Here!

Proposals may be submitted March 1–31, 2023.

Proposals are reviewed by a committee of folklorists who live in the region hosting the meeting. We aim to send notification of acceptance or rejection and post a preliminary program by June 30.

Plan to Participate

The window for submitting proposals is March 1 through March 31

New this year! To support presenters who can’t travel to Portland, AFS is offering up to two days of dedicated virtual programming, October 11-12, in addition to a four-day, in-person gathering in Portland, Oregon, November 1-4.

To create an opportunity for greater flexibility in scheduling, virtual and in-person sessions will be scheduled for 90 minutes by default, but we will accommodate 120-minute sessions as necessary.

Learn about proposal types

You Should Know

AFS is offering fully virtual or fully in-person presentation opportunities in 2023. You must select one or the other when you submit your proposal. Chairs proposing pre-organized sessions may also apply to be considered for one of the limited number of hybrid slots in Portland. Please pick carefully during proposal submission! We cannot shift presentations or sessions from one mode to another once they are scheduled.
ALL PRESENTERS must 1) register, then, in addition, 2) submit their own individual information for the program. These are two separate steps, to be completed by everyone who is to be listed in the program, including forum participants, co-presenters, and discussants. You will receive a confirmation email with a personalized link to the submission system after you’ve registered for the meeting. Save your registration confirmation email so that you can return to your proposal.
Use the link in your confirmation email to access the proposal system, which will guide you through the process.
You can edit or gradually complete your proposal through March 31, so don’t wait to begin. AFS staff will have more time to assist with technical difficulties in advance of the deadline.
Pre-organized panels: All panel participants will submit their own personal information, while the panel chair will submit the proposal details for the session as a whole.
- Panelists: Once you’ve registered, submit your personal information by clicking on the link in your confirmation email to enter the Submission Portal, then sign in with your Registration ID and click “Start Here” at the bottom of the welcome page. Paper presenters will be prompted to submit their presentation information following their personal information.
  - Submit your Registration ID number to your session chair. Please note that your chair WILL NOT be able to add you to the session if you have not submitted your personal information to the proposal system first.
- Chairs: You can start your session proposal at any time, but you can’t finish until you have your participants’ Registration ID numbers, which you will enter in the panel submission form. For help with this process, see Checklists for Each Proposal Type.
You can defer your registration payment until later (choose “pay by invoice” at check out), and/or you can apply for financial assistance for registration or membership fees. On the other hand, if you can make a contribution now to help fund access to the annual meeting, thank you!
If you are planning to participate in more than one way, you must contact us at [email protected] before you start your submission. The proposal system cannot accept more than one proposal per person, but AFS staff can guide you if the exception is warranted. See “Number of Presentations” in AFS Annual Meeting Policies.

How to Submit a Proposal

1. AFS Membership (optional)

You don’t have to join AFS to register for the meeting, but members enjoy a number of member benefits. As long as you use the same email for your registration as you used for your member profile, our system will link your registration record to your profile.

2. Register for the Annual Meeting (required for everyone)

Registration is the first step, required by all meeting attendees. Data submitted in the registration form will be used only for name tags, communications, planning, and analytic purposes. This information is entirely separate from the proposal data that is used to plan the meeting program.

When your registration is complete, you will see a confirmation webpage and you will receive a confirmation email from American Folklore Society at [email protected]:

Subject: “2023 Annual Meeting of the American Folklore Society – attendee registered;” this message:
- confirms you are registered and provides your Registration ID;
- provides a link to your payment record or invoice; and
- provides a link to the proposal submission portal.

Don’t forget to save your registration confirmation email so that you can return to your proposal!

3. Start a Proposal Submission (required for everyone named in a proposed paper or panel)

You must submit your own information/permission form to be included in the meeting program.

Use your personal proposal link to the proposal forms, which you will find in your registration confirmation email. If you don’t receive this email or can’t find the link, contact [email protected].
Alternatively, ask us for a mail-in form at [email protected]. We must receive your mailed-in submission by March 31.
The submission portal will lead you through the submission process. You can save your work and return later. Keep your email or bookmark the link so you can access the portal whenever you like until the deadline.

Important Tips

Hit Submit at the end of each page to save any data that you’ve entered. You can skip most fields if you’re not ready to complete them, but you must hit Submit to save your work.
Prepare and keep a copy of your proposal as a Word or text document; copy and paste the proposal information into the online proposal form. Avoid composing in the proposal form, since your work may be lost if you’re interrupted before you’re done.

4. Submission Confirmation

At the end of the proposal form, you will land on a confirmation page that displays links to the proposal data you’ve submitted; you can click on these links to reopen your proposal at any time.

Pre-organized panel participants

Your proposal submission confirmation page includes your Registration ID number. You must send that number to your session chair. The chair must enter that number in the proposal system to tie you to the session.

If you are not part of a preorganized session, you will only need your Registration ID number to reenter your proposal.

5. Edit a Submission

Use the link you received in your confirmation email to return to the proposal submission portal. Save or bookmark the link so that you can find it when you need it. If you can’t find the link, contact [email protected].

Any time you return to the proposal submission portal, you will see links to edit the information you have already submitted. Click on those links to reopen the proposal forms.

Important Tip

Don’t forget to hit Submit at the end of each page! If you enter data but don’t hit Submit, your changes will be lost.

6. Complete Your Submission (required for everyone named in a proposed paper or panel)

Proposals that are not complete when the March 31 deadline passes will not be forwarded to the Proposal Review Committee.

Withdrawing a Proposal

Contact [email protected] if you want to withdraw your proposal entirely. If you wish to start over because you have submitted the wrong proposal type, contact us for assistance.