Special Message from the AMIA President and Board Chair
I hope you are well as we head into the summer months.
As you know, we have been planning for a live AMIA 2021 Annual Symposium in San Diego with a live streaming track to enable virtual attendance. The AMIA Board of Directors held a special meeting last week to hear presentations from the AMIA 2021 Annual Symposium Scientific Program Committee (SPC) leadership, AMIA staff, and a special presentation on current pandemic-related trends as we move toward the Fall.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased to announce that based on the current and prospective public health conditions, we believe we can safely convene the informatics community in San Diego October 30 – November 3. We will offer AMIA 2021 as a live Symposium program while following national, state, and local guidance.
We know this is a transitional year for conferences. The Annual Symposium you have come to enjoy will look a little different this year. But it will be the homecoming we have all been waiting for, and time to reestablish the connections we all value in AMIA’s membership.
As exciting as it is to know I will see some of your faces (in person!) in the Fall, I want to assure prospective attendees that we will make this event as safe and comfortable as possible.
We will require all attendees to be fully vaccinated and will require masks in all indoor public areas of the hotel (when not eating/drinking or giving a presentation). The AMIA staff in attendance will also be fully vaccinated. We understand that a vaccine requirement may cause challenges for some. If there are individuals in your household who are immunocompromised or you have medical or other personal reasons that prevent you from attending the meeting, there will still be an opportunity to participate in a limited amount of live streaming content from the event. The virtual program will include the opening and closing keynotes, along with sessions and content as designed by the SPC.
Our partners at the Hilton San Diego have used the pause in conferences over the last 15 months to complete a total renovation to the property including all rooms, public spaces, restaurants, and conferencing facilities. The Hilton staff has placed an emphasis on designing spaces that blend the indoors and outdoors, and the San Diego climate enables us to move many of our networking opportunities outside with the fresh ocean breeze.
Our hope is that when you attend the Annual Symposium, you will do so feeling you are making a safe decision.
The SPC is finalizing submission decisions and will be communicating with presenters in mid-June. Stay tuned for a special message from the SPC next week for a focused late-breaking submission opportunity.
Registration will open in the coming weeks. I look forward to seeing you in the Fall in San Diego.