2019 Post-Annual Meeting Survey

2019 Post-Annual Meeting Survey Results

Last November, the AAR joined with SBL to host their 2019 Annual Meetings in San Diego, California. In attendance were 9,489 AAR and SBL members and exhibitors, a 0.02% increase from the 2018 Denver Annual Meeting (9,487).

A total of 1,425 AAR, SBL, and Additional Meetings sessions occurred during the five-day time period from Thursday, November 21, to Tuesday, November 26. AAR hosted 560 sessions.

Responses to the post-Annual Meeting survey reflect generally positive experiences by the members in attendance. Survey results are posted online (PDF). 92 percent of survey respondents thought the 2019 Annual Meeting was a satisfactory or very satisfactory experience. Satisfaction with sessions was high: 87 percent of survey respondents said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the quality. The opportunity to network with other colleagues also received high marks: 92 percent reported satisfaction. Respondents rated the San Diego Annual Meeting location favorably, giving positive feedback about its hotel facilities (85 percent) and meeting room space (72 percent).

The Annual Meeting attracted attendees from around the world: 76 nationalities were represented. Canadians made up the largest international group with 435 attendees, followed by the United Kingdom (324), Germany (210), Australia (123), Israel (74), Norway (64), the Netherlands (53), Sweden (53), South Africa (44), Switzerland (41), Finland (35), and Japan (33). Home-state California was the best-represented state in 2019 with 1,292 attendees, followed by Texas (507), Illinois (434), New York (431), Massachusetts (368), Pennsylvania (302), and North Carolina (275).

Satisfaction with the registration and housing process was high: 92 percent of respondents rated the process positively. The peak hotel night was Saturday, November 23, with over 4800 hotel rooms in use. Overall around 19,600 room nights were occupied during the meeting.

The Annual Meeting Satisfaction Survey is sent via e-mail to all Annual Meeting attendees at the conclusion of each meeting and is offered online at the AAR website. The number of responses this year was 1,031, which represents about 22.5 percent of those AAR and dual members who were sent the survey. Respondents did not answer each question, so the values were measured from the number of respondents who did. The survey is voluntary and open to all attendees. The Executive Office staff would like to thank everyone who participated in the post-Annual Meeting survey. It continues to be valuable to the Annual Meeting process, for it provides the AAR’s Program Committee, Board of Directors, and Executive Office staff with an important measure of member satisfaction. We value this opportunity to hear your comments and suggestions on how we can continue to meet your needs and to offer an excellent meeting.