2011 ASA Annual Meeting

Each August approximately 5,000 sociologists from all over the world gather to engage in dialogue about social topics, disseminate new research results and knowledge found through disciplined inquiry, and share experiences of best practices in teaching sociology and sociology related subjects.

This conference is big, because the American Sociological Association (ASA) is big, and usually occupies 3 hotels, or 2 hotels and a conference center. This year in Las Vegas, the conference took up a part of Caesar’s Palace, which is huge.
I always look forward to going to this conference, even though some might say that is too big to really get to know and meet many fellow sociologists. Even though we are still strangers, I’m starting to see familiar faces year after year in the crowded halls and escalators as we greet with that courteous nod acknowledging “the other.”

The sessions are great! I love being able to attend so many sessions and having such a wide choice to choose from. New sessions occur every 2 hours beginning at 8:30 AM. The sessions are surprising, because some sessions I think might be boring wind up being interesting and then some I thought would be interesting wind up being boring.
My favorite sessions are the ones in which the speakers present their research—these are paper sessions and the challenge for the session organizer is to keep all 4 speakers to a time limit as the first one usually goes long which then crowds the other speakers and does not allow for enough time for discussion. The premise of these paper sessions is based on sharing one’s work and sharing the time available for all the speakers to present. The challenge occurs if one of the speakers is a non-USA presenter because they usually tend to go more slowly and take a very long time to present their work. The discussion at the end is usually the most dynamic part of the entire session, as questions and answers provide those “ah-ha” moments.

Joining sections in ASA is a great way to specialize and develop collegial relationships with other professionals with similar interests. I am a Council member of the Section on Sociological Practice and Public Sociology, and this year was the Roundtable Organizer for our section. Twenty scholars presented their papers in groups of 5 scholars with similar interests. Since I’m also the section’s newsletter editor, I will be contacting each one of the presenters to ask them to write a reduction for the October newsletter! The papers presented were about conflict, disasters, public sociology and applied sociology.

Sociologists are a neat bunch—among them are quirky ones, “academic” ones, and those who seem rather “normal.” As a whole, they are approachable, talkative, interested in others and circumstances, and are prone to strike up conversations anywhere and everywhere. Attending a professional conference is exhilarating and rejuvenating. I always come away with new ideas, new friends and colleagues, and feel recharged.