With the 2012 Annual Meeting concluded, we need to agree to a date for the 2013 Annual Meeting, to be held at the University of Stirling.  In the past, this has been held on the first weekend in December; if this precedent were followed, the 2013 meeting would be held at Stirling on 6th – 7th December.  However, the idea of changing the date of the Annual Meeting was mooted at the recent AGM, e.g. to the first weekend in November.  I would like to solicit feedback on this proposal.

Here’s what was mentioned in favour of moving the meeting from December:

• The weather.  It was pointed out that inclement weather makes can make travel in December difficult.  (E.g., the 2010 meeting was cancelled due to bad weather.)
• Teaching and/or exams.  It was pointed out that some members might prefer a different date for the meeting, given their teaching responsibilities.  (Although a December date might be better for others, in connection with teaching responsibilities, given different teaching schedules.)

One thing that is important: we need to have a meeting date that is firm and settled and the same from year to year.  Once we have this in place, I can advertise the date widely and request that other philosophy events at the six departments not be scheduled at the same time as the Annual Meeting.  (I made the mistake this year of not having a firm and settled date this year, with the result that several conferences were held at the same time as the Annual Meeting.)

If you’ve feedback on this, can you please pass it on your departmental representative on the SPA committee: Jesper Kallestrup,  Sarah Broadie, James Williams, Ben Colburn, Peter Sullivan, or Guido Baccigaluppi.  Thank you!