To participate on the program, all presenters, chairs, moderators, and discussants are required to pay the registration fee for the Annual Meeting before the submissions deadline and additionally, hold an SAA membership over the course of the meeting year (memberships run from January 1 to December 31). SAA begins accepting membership dues for the following membership year on August 1. Individuals who are not current SAA members would need to join the Society by November 15 and current members, have until January 30 to renew their membership. For further details about the registration and membership requirements, as well as other policies, please visit the Submissions Guidelines page.

The SAA Board has established meeting registration policy. In the event an SAA annual meeting is canceled, meeting registrations will automatically be applied to the next year’s annual meeting unless a full refund is specifically requested.

Current refund policies will continue to apply for all SAA annual meetings that go forward. These are:

• The SAA has always refunded (in full) anyone unable to attend the Annual Meeting (we require documentation).
• Registration fees for presenters who elect to withdraw from the program will be refunded by the SAA office—minus a $25 processing fee—upon receipt of an e-mailed or written request (no verbal requests, please) timestamped postmarked by December 1 immediately prior to the meeting. Program participants are not eligible for any refunds after December 1 for any given meeting.
• Advance registration fees for those not on the program who elect to not attend will be refunded by the SAA office—minus a $25 processing fee—upon receipt of e-mailed or written request (no verbal requests, please) postmarked by the advance registration date deadline. 
• No refunds are available after the advanced registration deadline except in the case of registrants who provide documentation that shows they cannot attend, such as a visa denial, governmental travel advisory or prohibition, employer travel prohibition, or medical reason.
• In the event an SAA annual meeting is canceled, meeting registrations will automatically be applied to the next year's annual meeting unless a full refund is specifically requested.
• Hotel: Members must notify the headquarter hotel of a cancellation no later than three (3) working days before date of arrival to receive a refund from the hotel.
• Travel: We strongly encourage meeting participants to familiarize themselves in advance with refund and cancellation policies for airlines, car rentals, trains, or other travel providers, as there is likely to be a great deal of variation in what is allowed.

In order to celebrate the wealth of archaeological research taking place around New Orleans and the greater US Southeast, the SAA Board is pleased to announce the Southeast Session Series, a programmatic initiative to create sessions focusing on the region that are minimally or ideally entirely nonoverlapping. The program committee encourages anyone interested in organizing a session for the series to submit a session title with an asterisk (*) before the title in the online submission system. Organized entrants in the Southeast Session Series will be specially marked in the SAA 2024 meeting program so that conference attendees can easily identify them.

Motion 151A-70B - The board highly encourages attendees of the 2024 Annual Meeting to be vaccinated but vaccinations will not be required. If CDC guidelines change before December 2023, the board will revisit this decision with due consideration of the difficulties in being vaccinated and boosted or getting a PCR test. (5-5-23) 

Thanks to the work of the Virtual Components Task Forces, the 2024 New Orleans meeting will offer options to present virtually and to attend virtually.

Please note all poster sessions will be in person only, as will be the Exhibit Hall, CRM Expo, Ethics Bowl, all committee and task force meetings, Interest Group business meetings, receptions, and editorial board meetings.

Virtual attendees will have access to symposia, general sessions, electronic symposia, forums, debates, and lightning rounds. In-person meeting attendees can attend some or all sessions virtually if they choose to. Presenters and attendees may change their minds about the modality of their attendance at the last minute and/or have maximum flexibility regarding how they elect to participate in the conference.

Virtual attendees will see presenters of symposia, general sessions, electronic symposia, forums, debates, and lightning rounds on screen. However, virtual attendees will not be able to be heard or seen on camera and will not be able to interact with in-person session participants and attendees except through the session Q&A chat box. Virtual attendance will happen in real time, following the schedule in U.S. Central time. Sessions will not be recorded for later viewing.

In order for participants and discussants to present remotely, the session organizer at a minimum needs to be present in the room in New Orleans. This person needs to connect the podium computer to the room projector, launch the zoom, etc.

Symposia, general sessions, and electronic symposia will be equipped with an LCD projector; screen; one microphone at the podium; speakers; hardwire ethernet connections; and a PC laptop that is hardwired to internet connection, sound patch, and projector. Session chairs will need to collect all presentations before the session and make them available on a flash drive with a USB-A so that all presentations can be loaded to the session room PC laptop. By connecting the session room PC laptop to the annual meeting site and logging into the virtual room, presenters at the podium will be on camera. During this time, everything shared on the laptop will be shared with the virtual audience.

Forums, lightning rounds, and debates will be equipped with an LCD projector; screen; one microphone at the podium; four microphones at the head table; speakers; and 12 hardwire ethernet connections. Session participants using Macs will need to bring their own ethernet adaptor. All forum presenters will need to have a headset to connect to their laptops to minimize the feedback from other panelists.

Presenters will be able to access the Annual Meeting website, log in to the session, and present during their scheduled time. Note that the session schedule will be on U.S. Central Time. We recommend speaking with your session chair if you plan to present virtually, as the session chair must be in-person in the session room to connect the session room laptop and launch the Zoom in the session room.

This year we will not have the option to upload posters. In the past years that we’ve had the e-Posters option available, less than 50% of posters were uploaded to the annual meeting site. Virtual posters add $10,000 to the expenses of the annual meeting, which must be covered by meeting registration rates.

Due to the low number of views of the sessions recorded at the 2021 virtual meeting and to keep meeting registration rate increases as low as possible, we will not be recording sessions. Virtual attendees can join the conference live in U.S. Central Time.

All annual meeting presenters and attendees will need to register for the SAA 89^th Annual Meeting. Information about registration and policies is available at https://www.saa.org/annual-meeting/registration-info.

Attendees and presenters will be able to access the virtual sessions through the SAA Annual Meeting website using their SAA username and password. Only registered attendees and presenters will be able to access the site. The site will be able to identify session presenters and allow them to present.

Virtual attendees will be able to ask presenters questions through the session Q&A chat box. The live audience will be able to ask questions in person. The session chair/moderator will need to repeat all questions so that everyone (live and virtual audience) is able to hear the question.

Session chairs will be responsible for sharing information with session presenters about what is needed for a successful session. This includes reminding all session participants and especially those who plan to attend virtually about the time of the session. Before the session starts, session chairs will need to collect all the presentations, live and virtual, in one USB drive to ensure an easy transition between presentations. During the meeting session chairs will make sure that the session room laptop is connected to Zoom, and that all presentations are accessible through the presentation laptop by bringing their USB drive to the session. The session chair will ensure that the session starts on time, stays on schedule, and ends on time.

Virtual components increase meeting costs. Location costs including labor, internet, and audiovisual equipment are incurred regardless of attendance. Supplementing the in-person meeting with virtual attendance capabilities adds dramatically to the final expense. Virtual attendees often do not have the same travel expenses (hotels, airfare, etc.) as in-person attendees.

SAA will use an experienced conference childcare vendor, ACCENT on Children’s Arrangements, LLC. They will provide:

• Age-appropriate, curriculum-enriched environments containing hands-on, creative activities
• Stimulation programs on site with attention to children’s health and safety
• CPR and pediatric first aid certified supervisors
• A staff of teachers, professional childcare providers, and mothers who have completed ACCENT’s specialized training program

Children ages six months to 12 years are welcome to participate and will have age-oriented activities planned for them.

Childcare will be available during session times. During the call for submissions, we expect the hours to be as follows:

Wednesday, April 17, 2024: 6 –8 p.m.

Thursday, April 18, 2024: 7:30 a.m. –10:30 p.m.

Friday, April 19, 2024: 7:30 a.m. –5:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 20, 2024: 7:30 a.m. –5:30 p.m.

Sunday, April 21, 2024: 7:30 a.m. –12:00 p.m.

It is likely that childcare will be located in the Sheraton across the street from the New Orleans Marriott, where workshops and committee meetings are anticipated to be scheduled. The exact location will be shared during childcare registration.

SAA will pay for the vendor and hourly expenses of childcare. Please consider making an unrestricted donation to SAA to help offset this expense.

Childcare is limited and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis. Childcare registration will open in January and close on March 8, or when we reach capacity. 

Abstracts cannot exceed 200 words. Also, please do not use more than one (1) space after a period. 

The Program Committee selects chairs for general sessions from those individuals that have indicated a willingness to serve in such a capacity. Please be sure to select the appropriate box on the individual abstract submission form if you are interested.

A general session chair accepts the responsibility of providing the laptop computer for the session and ensures that all presentations are loaded prior to the session. To facilitate that process, SAA Staff will provide the general session chair with contact information for all the session participants

The session chair is responsible for organizing the session submission and making sure their participants have completed their submissions. Onsite, session chairs (or delegating this to a session participant) are responsible for launching the virtual components Zoom on the session room laptop, loading all presentations onto a flash drive prior to the session, and uploading those presentations to the session room laptop prior to the session beginning. Session chairs (or their delegates) are also responsible for making sure the session stays on time.

After you select your session format and complete the session abstract, you may invite participants to your session. In order to invite participants, you will need to enter each person’s first and last name, and e-mail address. Participants are invited to your session via an automated e-mail.

Sometimes a participant’s mail provider may reject the automated email. If this occurs, you can send the participant your session ID number and what role you would like them to have in your session. The participant will then need to login into the submission system, click the “I want to accept an invitation to an organized session” button, enter in your session ID number, and then select their role.

Participants will not appear in your session until they have accepted your invitation to participate.

Once the maximum number of participants has been reached, invitees will no longer be able to accept the invitation to the session. Similarly, if a specific role is maximized, the participant will not be able to join the session in that role.

You can now connect with possible session participants and organizers through the "Session Organizers Looking for Participants" discussion thread in the Collaboration e-Community. In this e-Community, organizers can post about their session and the type of presenters they are looking for. This gives others the opportunity to reach out directly to the organizer if they feel they would be a good fit for the proposed session. This thread can be found under "Annual Meeting" in the Discussions section.

Detailed instructions on how to navigate to this thread can be found here.

The Collaboration e-Community is open to anyone with an SAA account (whether they are a current member or not) during the submissions period (May 1 - September 5, 2019).

When logged in to the submissions portal, click on the “I want to accept an invitation to an organized session”, enter your Session ID, and follow the prompts to complete your submission as a participant or discussant.

Chairs have the ability to pay for a participant’s registration fee via the submissions system. In order for the chair select this option, the participant must log in to the submissions portal, complete their abstract (if relevant to their role), and select the “Pay by Mail/Fax” checkbox under Payment Options (on the Step 2 Registration tab). Once the participant has completed these steps, they will be listed on your Step 3 Participants tab. Under their “status” column they will be marked as unpaid. On the Step 3 Participants page, click the “Pay for Invitees” button at the bottom of the page, select which participants you’d like to pay for, and then follow the prompts to complete the payment.

Registration fees for all participants must be received by the submissions deadline.

The designation “sponsored” indicates the support of an SAA internal entity (i.e. committee, Task Force, interest group) or an outside organization that has received explicit approval from the SAA Executive Director. Outside organizations will need to contact Oona Schmid (oona_schmid@saa.org) to discuss session sponsorship approval. 

Outside organizations are limited to no more than two sessions each year, which can comprise one session (poster, symposia, forum, etc.) and one special event (reception, business meeting, etc.) or two proposed sessions (poster session and symposium, for instance).

To indicate that your session is sponsored, go to edit your session submission, on step 1 “submission info” check yes on question #6, then enter the name of the sponsoring group. 

Because numerous groups wish to sponsor sessions, the Program Committee must balance such requests with other program goals; as a result, in some circumstances, requests for sponsored sessions may be rejected. Typically, a group may sponsor one session. Additional sponsored sessions by the same group are solely at the discretion of the Program Committee.

An SAA internal entity can sponsor one special event at the SAA Annual Meeting and may submit proposals for symposia, forums, or other sessions. Special events are generally requests for business meetings, receptions, “town hall” requests, workshops, or field trips that will be identified as being sponsored by the interest group, committee, or task force.

Sessions are auto-submitted for review once the submission deadline hits on September 5, 2019, 3pm Eastern Time. Chairs of sessions have the ability to make changes to the session at any time before the deadline. Prior to the deadline, please be sure to organize presentations within the submissions portal as you would like them to appear on the Preliminary and Final Program. No changes may be made after the deadline.

If the primary chair has not completed his/her submission or registration, the session will NOT be submitted for review.

If any session participants have not completed their submission or registration, they will not be included in the final session submission. Chairs are able to review and print the “Summary” page which shows exactly how their session will appear when it is submitted.

In order to submit to an organized session the session’s chair will have needed to send you an invite through the submissions portal or given you the session ID number. To accept an invitation, sign in to the submissions portal, click on the “I want to accept an invitation to an organized session”, enter the Session ID, and follow the prompts to complete your submission as a participant.

If you have not been invited by a chair to participate in an organized session, you can find chairs looking for participants by logging in to the Collaboration e-Community. The “Session Organizers Looking for Participants” discussion thread is where chairs can post about their session and the type of presenters they are looking for. This gives others the opportunity to reach out directly to the chair if they feel they would be a good fit for the proposed session. This thread can be found under "Annual Meeting" in the Discussions section.
Detailed instructions on how to navigate to this thread can be found here.

The Collaboration e-Community is open to anyone with an SAA account (whether they are a current member or not) during the submissions period (May 1 - September 5, 2019).

While any individual participating in the meeting may hold 3 roles, participants are limited to holding 1 “presenter” role. Presenter roles include 1^st authorship (primary author) on both paper and poster submissions. If you are already listed as a presenter elsewhere, you can’t submit a second abstract.

Abstracts cannot exceed 200 words. Also, please do not use more than one (1) space after a period. 

Since the submission system will only allow each individual to submit one paper or poster abstract, the participant will need to delete the initial abstract submissions and resubmit the abstract to the organized session. In order to submit to an organized session the chair can either send you an invite through the submissions portal or you can use the session ID. When logged in to the submissions portal, click on the “I want to accept an invitation to an organized session”, enter the Session ID, and follow the prompts to complete your submission as a participant.

If you have issues with this process, contact meetings@saa.org for assistance.

Once the maximum number of participants has been reached in a session, invitees will no longer be able to accept the invitation to the session. Similarly, if a specific role is maximized, the participant will not be able to join the session in that role. Please contact your session chair if you are unable to join their session.

Alternatively, an individual participating in the meeting may only hold 3 roles and participants are limited to holding 1 “presenter” role. Presenter roles include 1st authorship (primary author) on both paper and poster submissions. If you have already reached your 3 role or presenter role maximums, you will not be able to join the session.

The display area is 4 feet (height) × 8 feet (wide); your poster should be slightly smaller to be able to fit on the display area.

Mounting supplies are not provided by SAA; presenters need to have their own pushpins or double-sided tape for their displays.

Please be sure to pick up your poster when your session has concluded in order to provide a clean space for the incoming poster presenter. Electricity is not available in the poster area; please do not bring equipment that requires electricity.

Poster sessions run for 2 hours. You can set up your poster 15 minutes prior to the start of your poster session in the designated poster area. Please remove your poster when your session concludes and clean the area to allow for quick turnover for the incoming poster session.

The location of your poster will be determined by the poster number that is designated on the final program, which will be marked by a number and letter (ex. “8-a”). These poster numbers will be posted at the top right corner of the poster display area.

How much time presenters spend with their posters is up to them. Since one of the clear advantages of poster presentations is sustained interaction with the "audience," SAA urges presenters to spend as much of the two hours as possible with their material. If you are not able to be present for the entire session, please be sure to be on time to set up and to clean up your materials.

Please email your session chair with copies of any electronic presentation files in advance of your session. Check the final program and the onsite update to check what time you are scheduled to present.

If you plan to present in a general session or a symposium remotely, please let your session chair know, as the session chair must be in-person in the session room to connect the session room laptop and launch the Zoom in the session room.

Please remember that oral presentations in regular symposia are limited to fifteen minutes in length. Prepare your paper with this time limit in mind so that all sessions can run on time.

There is a Speaker Ready Room available to test connecting you laptop to the AV set up. You can also use this room to run through your presentation.

• Gather presentations from your presenters and load them to a flashdrive in advance of the session Tip! Number presentation in the order (e.g. "01" "02" so that they are in sequential order).
• Bring flashdrive to the New Orleans session room so that all presentations are available on the session laptop in the New Orleans session room
• Note: New Orleans session laptops are hardwired to ethernet, the projector, the sound patch, and the session Zoom for the virtual components
• Introduce each participant and open up their slide deck from the podium
• Ensure papers run according to schedule (15 minutes per paper presentation)

Volunteer session attendants will periodically check in on your session to ensure everything is running smoothly. If you need assistance, please ask your volunteer and they will get in contact with SAA Staff as needed.

• One New Orleans session room laptop
• Laptop is hardwired to ethernet, projector, sound patch, and the session Zoom for the virtual components
• One screen
• One session timer

If you wish to order and pay for additional AV equipment, please contact meetings@saa.org and we will send you the AV company’s contact information.

Traditional laser pointers are available at the SAA Staff Office but must be signed out. Any special connector needed for an Apple computer to connect to the LCD projector will need to be provided by the chair. Our audio visual company does not provide dongles. There are a limited number of Apple-compatible dongles available for sign out in the SAA Staff Office.

If you would like to practice you can do so in the Speaker Ready Room. Details on the location and hours of the Speakers Ready Room can be found in the final program.

In order for your presenters’ papers to be posted to the web, you must email them to Emma Sunseri (Emma_sunseri@saa.org) and Matt Cipriani (Matt_Cipriani@saa.org) as soon as possible. Once we receive the papers we will post them on the SAA website. 

Please only send the papers when they are complete. Do not send abstracts that will need to be replaced with papers. Paper Abstracts will be posted to the web about a month before the Annual Meeting. To view paper abstracts please visit: https://www.saa.org/annual-meeting/programs/abstract

If you are posting your papers on your own website, please let me know and I will post a link to your papers on the SAA E-Symposium website so attendees can find them.