Di seguito condividiamo la comunicazione AILA relativa alla variazione della data del congresso 2020:
Dear all,
The world situation is changing so rapidly because of the coronavirus, with some countries still having the worst to face that we can no longer wait to decide on the fate of AILA2020. As many of you have already suggested: we will postpone the World Congress of Applied Linguistics (AILA 2020) for one whole year until 15 August to 21 August 2021.
Financial concerns
As you may understand ANéLA, the Dutch AILA affiliate, is financially responsible for the event. We would like to stress that this is a small organization within the AILA network and postponing our event for one year may have grave consequences. What is more, we have already spent most of our budget on our congress bureau, which has a wonderful, supportive team, with Christien Koopstra as our AILA2020 ambassador, to get the whole abstract system ready and answer all our e-mails. Relying on this external party was necessary given the scale of AILA2020. We want to pay them for their services.
Of course, a full refund of the participation fee paid so far is possible for those who know that they will not be attending AILA2021 next year. Details about this will be shared soon. However, we ask delegates who plan to come next year to refrain from asking for a refund, if at all possible. We will be able to use this money for the work already done by the Congress bureau and not strain the financial resources of the Dutch AILA affiliate and the organizational committee even further.
Keeping as much the same as possible
We also would like to make as few changes as possible and not go through a whole round of reviewing abstracts etc. again or making a new program in 2021 because it will only add to the costs. We will also soon finalize the timing of the symposium slots, so you will know well ahead of time when your symposium takes place.
Going partly virtual
Another issue we would like to address concerns the feedback we received about the European registration fees, which are most substantial to our colleagues with lower salaries and fewer funds. In addition, air travel is not good for the climate either. Our solution is to add a virtual component so that delegates who cannot travel can join the AILA2021 conference long distance. Especially since we have organized symposia in three-hour slots, the chance to really intermingle live and virtually within this time slot is great. We are currently working with the people who are preparing the conference app, who in turn are cooperating with the people at the venue, to look at the possibilities for good virtual accessibility and exchange. We do not have details yet, but our idea would be that delegates who present virtually are completely integrated in the live symposium! Postponing the conference for one year allows us to look into effective virtual conferencing tools to allow this.
Possible changes in abstracts or people
Naturally, we do want to offer you the chance to update your abstract. We have asked the symposium organizers to contact you in the near future. Please let them know if you intend to make changes to your original abstract and let them know if you plan to do a virtual presentation. After the early bird deadline (April 15th 2021), we will give you exact instructions on how to upload your revised abstract into our system so we can be sure to get it right in the final program.
Registration fees for AILA2021
Naturally, the spot of those who already paid their participation fee is secured also for AILA2021 next year. We will (re)open up AILA2021 registration soon (we need to still add fees for the virtual component) with an early bird deadline April 15th, 2021. After that, we will be able to finalize the program.
Of course, in the meanwhile, please contact us at Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo. with any specific questions or suggestions.
The AILA 2021 team