By Darby Stapp
[dstapp@pocketinet.com]
Program Chair, 2011 SfAA Meetings

Darby Stapp

We had a wonderful turnout for the Seattle 2011 annual meeting. Over 1,850 people registered, which will be one of the larger SfAA meeting registrations on record. The hotel was good, the weather decent, and most people I spoke to were pleased.

The content was overwhelming and I want to thank everyone who participated for taking the time and making the effort to come to Seattle. The information and knowledge shared during the five days has the potential to influence the quality of life for an enormous number of people. I hope people are inspired to further share what they have learned with wider audiences so that the benefits can multiply.

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Virtually all applied social science research these days is driven by some public policy need at the international, federal, state, or local level. Anthropologists and other applied social scientists will often be working to bring awareness to a new or ongoing problem, have a job implementing a policy through a particular program, be tasked to develop a program in response to a new policy, or are evaluating the effectiveness of a specific program to identify changes that are needed.

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We asked attendees of the 2011 Society for Applied Anthropology Annual Meeting to prepare a short policy statement based upon their familiarity with a particular set of policies, and now we want to ask you.

The vision is to generate policy statements from many topical areas, compile them, and make them available to those who can make a difference. For example, if Northwest Tribes are having trouble accessing traditional foods on public lands, then we can generate statements directed at state and federal agencies to inform them about the issue, explain the importance, and suggest solutions. The intent is to eventually produce a “SfAA 2011 Policy Statements” booklet.

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By Nancy Schoenberg
[nesch@uky.edu]
Board of Directors representative to LPOs
University of Kentucky

Nancy Schoenberg

On Friday, 4/1/11, five LPOs and I got together for a working lunch in Seattle. Attending LPOs were: Jason Hodges (TN), Ruth Sando (WAPA), Emilia Gonzalez-Clements (new LPO in NW), Crystal Ton (TN, but moving to Chicago), and Susan Mazur-Stommen (Southern CA LPO). We discussed how to retain interest in members and grow new LPOs, as Emilia Gonzalez-Clements is doing in the Pacific Northwest and as Jason Hodges revives the Memphis area LPO. WAPA, as represented by Ruth Sando has an active website that might serve as a model for others. WAPA also may be an active participant in organizing a panel on NGOs or industry for the annual meeting in Baltimore.

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