The deadline to submit abstracts and Student Travel Award applications for WOS 2022 in Santa Fe is coming up on March 15! Read on for some important updates on what is shaping up to be an exciting conference.

Will it really happen? Although we have advertised May 15 as the date to announce the final decision on whether we will meet in person in Santa Fe, it would take an exceptional spike in COVID-19 cases for us to abandon our plan for an in-person conference. We are meeting in person and hope you will join us! There are limits to what we can expect and enforce and we cannot guarantee the COVID safety of anyone who chooses to travel and meet with us in Santa Fe, but we will do our level best to create the safest environment we can for an in-person meeting. Here’s what we’ll expect of registrants:

• Through a third-party service ensuring anonymity, we will require proof of vaccination to register.
• Masks will be required in all meeting spaces for the conference, although we expect people to lower their masks during dining. We are purchasing and will have N95 masks on hand for conference attendees.
•  We will provide rapid antigen testing kits and expect conference attendees to test daily.

What if I still don’t feel safe attending? We recognize that some folks aren’t comfortable meeting in person just yet, and others might have conflicts that keep them from joining with us in person. To address those needs, we are developing a separate, virtual event that will take place one week later on Monday, July 25. This will take the form of a four-hour, live event via Zoom webinar with two scheduled mentoring sessions, concurrent sessions of five-minute pre-recorded lightning talks, and live question-and-answer sessions with presenters.

All registrants for the full in-person meeting will have access to the virtual event on July 25. Presenters of contributed posters and oral presentations for the in-person meeting who would also like to participate in the virtual meeting will be invited to submit recordings of lightning talk versions of their work. Registrants who are only participating in the virtual event will pay a much-reduced registration fee; student travel and presentation awards will not be available to virtual-only presenters. Check back for more information as our plans for this virtual event develop!

What about lodging and registration? Our conference hotel is the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Santa Fe. We have a reserved block of 60 rooms there offered at the reduced rate of $159 per night for one king or two double beds. Hotel reservations in our block are open and you can reserve yours now if you like. Registration is expected to open approximately April 1, and the full breakdown of registration rates can be found on the meeting website.

If you have any questions about plans for the meeting, feel free to email woscommunications@gmail.com. We can’t wait to see you in Santa Fe this July!