American Psychological Association Convention 2016: Denver, Colorado

Mindy Shoss

SIOP’s (Division 14) program at APA was a great success! Thank you to program chair Tara Behrend, who put together a fantastic program, and to all who presented at and attended the convention! We heard thought-provoking talks by Lori Foster, David Blustein, Terry Tracey, Alex Gloss, Roni Reiter-Palmon, Chris Shalley, Gwen Fisher, Nancy Tippins, Lynn Offerman, Ann Huffman, Deirdre Knapp, Carl Castro, and others on such topics as decent work and humanitarian work psychology, creativity and innovation in organizations, worker health, selecting leaders of leaders, women leaders, work military trends … and more! We had two poster sessions that featured posters on a wide range of topics within I-O psychology. Beyond our divisional programming, Bruce Avolio and Kelley Slack delivered exciting plenary session talks on leader development and on behavioral risks on Mars and asteroid missions. And Eduardo Salas received the 2016 APA Award for Outstanding Lifetime Contributions to Psychology!

We also had a fantastic reception at The Corner Office Restaurant (fitting, right?)! Our reception was attended by SIOP past presidents, APA council representatives, I-O practitioners, academics, students, and even several new SIOP members. A great time was had by all!

It’s not too early to start thinking about next year’s convention in Washington DC! If you’ve never attended APA, please join us. You’ll find not only great presentations within I-O but also across other divisions of APA. An added bonus, APA discounts registration fees for first-time attendees who are APA members.

There are two types of programming that you should consider (note the different deadlines!): 

Collaborative Programs (collaborative with other divisions):

A collaborative program pulls together multiple perspectives on a significant issue for psychologists and society at large, involves more than one core area of psychology, that is, science, practice, education, public interest, and reflects interdisciplinary and relevant aspects of diversity.  The deadline for submitting collaborative programming is October 14. Collaborative proposals:

• should be 1- or 2-hour session proposals that highlight collaborative ideas and integrative approaches;
• must have at least two participants and a chairperson (individual presentations [paper/poster] will not be considered);
• are encouraged that
  • incorporate innovative presentation formats;
  • include participants across all career stages, settings, and fields; and
  • integrate psychological science and practice

Collaborative proposals are evaluated on the following criteria: broad appeal, importance of work, current and timely topic, originality and innovativeness, interactive/creative format, scientifically/empirically based, and attention to diversity.

Divisions you might want to consider collaborating with include:

• Div 1: Society for General Psychology
• Div 2: Society for the Teaching of Psychology
• Div 5: Quantitative and Qualitative Methods
• Div 8: Society for Personality and Social Psychology
• Div 9: Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues
• Div 13: Society of Consulting Psychology
• Div 18: Psychologists in Public Service
• Div 19: Society for Military Psychology
• Div 21: Applied Experimental and Engineering Psychology
• Div 35: Society for the Psychology of Women
• Div 38: Society for Health Psychology
• Div 41: American Psychology-Law Society
• Div 45: Society for the Psychological Study of Culture, Ethnicity and Race
• And many more! Check out the listing of divisions here: http://0-www-apa-org.library.alliant.edu/about/division/index.aspx?_ga=1.260482957.1628625474.1464221820

Traditional Programming: Submissions

You can also submit your work the regular way, as a poster, presentation, or symposium, through the open call, due December 1.

How to submit: Submissions for all types of programs will be received through the official APA Convention website (http://0-www-apa-org.library.alliant.edu/Convention). Remember collaborative proposals are due October 14. Other program submissions are due December 1.

More information about submission requirements can be found on the APA web site at apa.org/convention.