Evaluation Overview
Now that the AUPHA 2020 Virtual Annual Meeting is over, we are pleased to share some of the highlights from a compilation of attendee evaluations.
Overall, the 2020 AUPHA Virtual Annual Meeting was the highest rated meeting over the past several years. The final score for this meeting was 4.8/5, as compared to the 4.3s for the 2019, 2018, and 2017 Annual Meetings. Generally, attendees highlighted the ease and functionality of the meeting as being a significant positive. In addition to being able to easily sign up for and attend sessions, it was noted that the decision to spread the sessions out over a longer period of time allowed for individuals to attend more sessions than they have been able to in the past. This, along with the session recordings, allowed members to navigate their schedules better, while being able to catch up on items they may not have been able to attend.
As with all meetings, there were still some points of improvement highlighted by the evaluation. Most notably for this year was with the lack of being able to network, something difficult to accomplish in a virtual format. While AUPHA and the planning committee included some activities and wellness sessions to help break up the monotony of such a long meeting, it was impossible to replicate the in-person networking that occurs organically at onsite meetings. Nearly all comments provided in the evaluation were positive, however, and the general themes from them are highlighted in the comments below:
- Absolutely incredible content and full access to diverse content was a treasure, and a trend setting initiative. Kudos to everyone who made this possible, and sponsored our full participation remotely!
- I was very impressed with AUPHA's ability to quickly adapt and host the virtual version of their Annual Meeting. While I expect that in-person meetings are still preferred by all, I thought the virtual version was as strong as could be expected, and I liked that it was distributed across numerous weeks rather than attempted to be hosted within the same timeframe as the original meeting.
- I was impressed with the sessions I was able to attend. In addition, having them over several days allowed me to participate more than full-day sessions. Thank you!!
- All I can say is WOW! What an amazing transition to a virtual conference - so smooth, so professional! And what was most remarkable was the sense of joy, inclusivity, and engagement you created so that it was exciting to participate! Thank you!
- Job well done on moving to the online environment and reducing zoom fatigue.
We thank all who sponsored the meeting, participated in the meeting, and attended the meeting. We look forward to your participation in the 2021 Annual Meeting, scheduled to be held in Tampa next June.