Bigger and Better in the Big Apple: SIOP 2007 in New York July 2007

S. Douglas Pugh
Conference Chair

Tammy D. Allen
Program Chair

“Big” was the operative word in New York this year: a record-breaking conference with more submissions and more attendees than ever before, and right in the heart of over-the-top Times Square. By all accounts, the 2007 SIOP conference in New York, New York was a tremendous success. We had 4,509 conference registrants, shattering our all-time attendance record by more than 800. These attendees came from 35 countries outside of the U.S. Attendees had the opportunity to enjoy a mix of 278 invited and peer-reviewed sessions and 558 posters that covered over 50 content areas.

If you were there, or even if you missed it, here’s a quick review of some of the key things that happened at the conference:

Thursday

Joan Brannick’s Workshop Committee put together a fabulous lineup of 15 workshops that were attended by 447 members. After the workshops, shrimp were enjoyed by all!

Wendy Becker, Joyce Bono, and Jim Farr hosted our second annual Junior Faculty Consortium, where 29 faculty members heard from some of the leaders in our field.
John Hunthausen and Kenneth Yusko put together another terrific panel for the Lee Hakel Industrial-Organizational Psychology Doctoral Consortium.

Dan Sachau developed and organized our first Master’s Student Consortium, which was enthusiastically received by 60 students currently enrolled in master’s programs.

Tammy Allen and Talya Bauer hosted a noisy SIOP Newcomers Reception for attendees who were new to the SIOP conference, complete with several rounds of speed networking.

More than 60 of our members enjoyed a historical and architectural tour of the lower Manhattan financial district.

Friday

The conference kicked off bright and early at 8:00 a.m. with the plenary session. Award Committee Chair Joyce Bono announced 16 awards, grants, and scholarships received by our members, and Fellowship Chair George Hollenbeck announced our new SIOP Fellows. Next, Paul Thayer gave us an update on the state of the SIOP Foundation, Milt Hakel announced the drive to fund the new Dunnette Prize, and Paul Sackett gave a brief update on the new SIOP journal. After Lois Tetrick’s glowing introduction, Jeff McHenry presented his presidential address (which will be available in video format on the SIOP Web site). After the presidential address, we were treated to a compelling invited talk by Jeffrey Pfeffer of Stanford University. Finally, Jeff McHenry (symbolically) passed the gavel to our incoming president Lois Tetrick, who announced the winners of this year’s elections: Donald Truxillo, Member-at-Large; José Cortina, APA Council Representative, and Gary Latham, President.

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Committee and Allies meeting and reception were held on Friday afternoon.

The International Affairs Committee met and hosted in the International Members’ Reception.

The Committee on Ethnic Minority Affairs held its annual meeting and reception.

For the second year we highlighted the top-rated posters, S. Rains Wallace Award winner, Flanagan award winners, and the inaugural best LGBT paper award winner during the Friday evening all-conference evening reception.

Saturday

At 7:00 a.m., 174 members participated in this year’s Fun Run, once again hosted by Paul Sackett, Pat Sackett, and Kevin Williams.

The Leading Edge track based on the fall consortium was again a bit hit and featured two invited symposia, a community of interest session, and an evening reception.

Sunday

Stephen Rogelberg and his Sunday Seminar Committee hosted four well-received and well-attended sessions.

Stephanie Payne and her Sunday Theme Subcommittee hosted a great set of sessions on the theme of globalization. The sessions featured outside speakers, a stellar panel discussion, and a terrific group of peer-reviewed symposia.

Throughout the Conference

Thanks to Mindy Bergman and Larissa Linton, the Placement Center served 413 job seekers and 80 employers (several with multiple positions).

More than 70 student volunteers, coordinated by Joerg Dietz, made sure the conference ran smoothly by helping with many behind-the-scenes tasks including conference bag stuffing (thanks, Mankato!), sign deployment, registration, and the like.

Deborah Rupp and her Invited Sessions Subcommittee arranged for several stimulating sessions that featured expert external speakers on corporate responsibility and minority health. They also hosted a session on the state of the science–practitioner model. Look for a summary of the science–practice session in this issue of TIP.

The Community of Interest sessions, spearheaded by Boris Baltes and his subcommittee, attracted a good turnout on cutting-edge topics that sparked some lively science–practice interaction.

The Interactive Poster sessions continued to grow in popularity.

For the first time this year, top-rated practice forum sessions were recognized on the program. Congratulations to Michael Harris, Alexis Fink, Sarah Fallaw, and Cynthia Hedricks for chairing these submissions.

In addition to the workshops, three Sunday Seminars and three Master Tutorials carried CE credit this year. SIOP will be offering one of these sessions in a streaming format on the Web site for credit. Stay tuned for details.

Dave Nershi and the SIOP Administrative Office Staff worked tirelessly to get folks registered, troubleshoot problems, and make the conference a terrific experience for our members.

Remember, if there’s a session you missed because there was just too much to do (or maybe the excitement of New York sucked you out into Times Square), check out the SIOP Web site. There, you will find streaming audio versions off the conference sessions (one for CE credit) and a video of Jeff’s presidential address.

Finally, our 2007 New York conference represents a turning point in SIOP conference history. Not only was it our best attended conference, it was our last 2½ day conference. Next year, in San Francisco, we move to a full 3-day conference format, with workshops and consortia on Wednesday and the official program portion of the conference running Thursday morning through Saturday evening. Please look for the article in this issue of TIP for a preview of the upcoming changes.

See you in San Francisco!