Dear SSILA members,

I hope you are all well and safe as we continue to navigate through difficult and uncertain times. We, the SSILA Executive Committee, have deliberated about the format of the 2023 Annual Meeting and, after much discussion, we have decided that we will be holding our meeting virtually once again, from Friday, January 20th to Sunday, January 22nd. We are working on finalizing the call for papers, which we will send out soon.

With this decision we are hoping to ensure equal access to the meeting to members both within the US and overseas who may be unable to travel given safety concerns, rising travel costs due to the conflict in Europe, budget limitations and other vulnerabilities. We believe there is still a great deal of uncertainty and that, given these circumstances, it is best for us to plan as safely as possible and within the limits of our budget (a fully accessible hybrid option is out of our capabilities at the moment). Crucially, we believe that holding the meeting virtually leads to greater inclusion of members from across the Americas and all over the world, and this was a key parameter in our decision-making process.

Having said that, we would also like to express that this decision is not intended to be for the long term and that we hope to resume in person meetings as soon as circumstances allow us. We acknowledge many of our members are also LSA members and that there are benefits that this partnership brings, and we would like to continue preserving those benefits for our members, and we have communicated this to the leadership of the LSA. At the same time, we are also looking forward to exploring options to keep including a virtual component in our activities moving forward, for the reasons expressed above.

Please reach out if you have any questions, suggestions or comments.

Best,

Gabriela Caballero

SSILA President, on behalf of the SSILA Executive Committee.