01/18/2019

The Shutdown’s Long-term Ripple Effects on Meetings

The effects are likely to persist in the months ahead

Since the government shutdown started four weeks ago, we’ve done a few pieces on its immediate effects on association meetings. The American Meteorological Society (AMS), for example, saw more than 700 federal employees and researchers miss its annual meeting earlier this month, and the American Astronomical Society’s conference had at least 300 fewer attendees.

While those immediate effects are significant, the lingering shutdown will likely affect the meetings industry long after the government reopens, leaving association planners and prospective attendees and presenters scrambling. Here’s a look a three of those longer-term impacts.

FEWER GOVERNMENT-SUBMITTED ABSTRACTS
Scientific meetings rely greatly on government employees who submit abstracts and present their research. But the shutdown is limiting their ability to do so. In many cases, they can’t even be included on abstracts submitted by non-government researchers.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Associations Now.