IAMCR 2012: An overview of conference plans

All roads lead to Durban in South Africa from July 15 to 19 when academic experts, researchers and emerging scholars from all continents will assemble for five rigorous days of discourse and analysis at the 2012 edition of the IAMCR Annual Conference series.

Up to a thousand delegates, from Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Australasia, will descend on the Howard College Campus of the University of KwaZulu Natal in the coastal city of Durban, marking the first time that the Association will be hosting one of its conferences in sub-Saharan Africa.

Participants will present academic papers, attend plenary sessions, plan collaborative research and publication activities, and party at social events, while exploring the diverse angles of the conference theme: 'North South Conversations'. The 2012 conference will culminate with a General Assembly, where key issues of institutional leadership, policy reforms and future programmes will be reviewed and decided.

Special Conference Events
Three Plenary Sessions and several Special Sessions will provide participants with a high level and specialized focus on the conference theme and on critical public issues affecting our members. The details of those events will be announced shortly.

An opening ceremony and welcome reception will start things off in the evening of July 15, when the Deputy Mayor of Durban, the Vice Chancellor of UKZN and IAMCR's President will all deliver short addresses ahead of refreshment and entertainment.

Details of other social events to be hosted by the Local Organizing Committee, led by Ruth Teer Tomaselli and Michele Tager, will be confirmed as they become available. The schedule of social activities will end with a party on Thursday July 19, following the close of the General Assembly and of the conference itself.

Registration
Registration for the conference opens March 12, 2012, with early bird rates continuing until April 25, when regular registrations will apply. Late registration, at higher rates, will start from June 24 through to the opening of the Conference on July 15. As in past years, specific categories of participants will be offered lower, concessionary rates, with an emphasis on supporting scholars from the global south, emerging scholars and those experiencing particular hardship in their economic circumstances. Paid-up IAMCR members receive a 100€ discount of their registration fees.

Wide Choice of Hotels
Details of hotel accommodation options are already available online, including low cost accommodation and regular hotel rooms. Visit the conference website to make your hotel reservations as well as to view the listing of important dates, the Call for Papers  and the social programme for the conference.

Participants should have a really enjoyable time in cool Durban, where we will experience the mild Southern winter and the beautiful floral bloom of the native Erythrina tree that forms the specially designed conference logo.

Book your travel early!
Conference attendees are urged to make their travel reservations, hotel bookings and conference registrations very early to keep costs under control. Late airline bookings to South Africa can be very costly.

Arrival at Durban will be via the King Shaka International Airport, where there will be an IAMCR welcome desk and arranged low cost shuttles to designated conference hotels.

Please visit the conference website for further details and be sure to be a part of what will be one of IAMCR's most fantastic conferences yet! And don't forget to register your attendance on the conference's event page on Facebook.

See you all in Durban!

Hopeton Dunn,
IAMCR Secretary General