Every year, ICA conducts an evaluation survey of attendees to the association's annual conference. This article highlights the primary results of the 2009 survey, which is based on the Chicago conference held this past May. The full report can be found on the ICA website.

We conducted this survey from June to August 2009, with a final response rate of 22% (475 people). The Chicago conference was very well attended with 2,197 registrants, which makes it the second best attendance after the 2005 conference in New York. Overall evaluations of the Chicago conference ranged from 5.0 to 6.0 (on a 7-point scale), which is slightly higher than the ratings for Montreal. As in previous conferences, respondents were, on average, most positive about the conference location and least positive about the social program, events, and outings.

Motivation to Participate. keeping up with recent research and socializing with colleagues and friends remain, as every year, the top motivations for attending the conference-followed by improving one's academic record, traveling to an interesting place, and seeking opportunities for research cooperation. The job market remains, on average, at the bottom of the list; however, an analysis of the relationship between respondents' motivations and their professional ranks suggests significant differences between students, junior faculty, and senior faculty. Academic record and the job market were more important motivations for students and junior faculty than for senior faculty. For students, improving one's academic record was, on average, the most important motivation (unlike the overall scores, where it was only in the third place) and was much more important than for junior faculty and senior faculty. Meeting or socializing with colleagues and friends was more important for junior and senior faculty than for students. For senior faculty it was, on average, the most important motivation.

Attendance of Events. Respondents most frequently attended Division/Interest Group panels - followed by Division/Interest group business meetings, Division/Interest Group receptions, and the first night's association-wide reception. The percentage of respondents who reported attending the opening plenary session was lower than in previous conferences. However, this question did not include the miniplenaries, which might explain the low attendance to the opening plenary session (22%) and the increasing attendance at the miniplenaries. There was also a substantial increase in the percentage of attendees in the theme panels and a slight decrease in the attendance at affiliate organizational panels.

The majority of events had a higher number of attendees among the senior faculty than among students or junior faculty. The most pronounced differences in the level of attendance were in the opening plenary session, the ICA business meeting/presidential address, and the preconference workshop; at each of these events, the number senior-faculty attendees was almost twice the number of students or junior faculty. Students, on the other hand, attended less association-wide events and more niche-oriented programming than junior or senior faculty.

Enjoyment of Events. The top five events that participants most enjoyed were: Division/Interest Group panels; cross-unit sessions; Division/Interest Group receptions; university/institutional receptions; and preconference workshops. The least-enjoyed event was the new members' orientation, followed by the neighborhood tours and the affiliate organizational panel. For most of the Chicago conference events, the level of enjoyment was lower than the level of enjoyment at the Montreal conference. The most significant increase was in levels of enjoyment of the miniplenary; the most significant decrease was in the ICA business meeting/presidential address, attaining a result similar to the San Francisco conference.

The level of enjoyment of the different events was similar among students, junior faculty, and senior faculty. The sole event to exhibit a significant difference was the new members' orientation, which students enjoyed more.

Attendance and Membership of Divisions and Interest Groups. The survey shows that the Mass Communication division was, as in past conferences, the best-attended division at the Chicago conference. Next on the list were Communication and Technology, Political Communication, and Journalism Studies (a slight difference in order with respect to the two previous conferences). The most significant decrease was in Organizational Communication. If responses are any indication, Division and Interest Group sessions are drawing interest from nonmembers, since the number of respondents who attended Division/Interest Group events was in every case higher than the number of actual Division/Interest Group members who attended. For instance, the attendance for both Popular Communication and Global Communication and Social Change Division events was more than double the size of those Divisions' memberships. The Organizational Communication Division and Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Interest Group are located at the other end of the spectrum, with almost the same number of attendees and members (ratios of 1.2:1 and 1.1:1, respectively).

Satisfaction With Logistics. The Chicago conference was considered better than previous conferences with respect to the hotel itself and the audiovisual supplies. The conference was considered less satisfying than both the Montreal and San Francisco conferences in relation to the printed program, and slightly less satisfying than the Montreal conference in terms of the layout of the meeting rooms. It was considered slightly more satisfying than the Montreal conference in relation to the special events and the comfort of the meeting rooms. The innovation of the flash drive program was acknowledged as an interesting idea. However, its use during the conference was questioned, the hard copy of the program being easier to consult. The qualitative comments confirm the general agreement that Chicago was an interesting location for the conference and less expensive than Montreal. However, some comments addressed the repetition of this location (which is also the NCA site for conference). No significant differences were found across the evaluations of students, junior faculty, and senior faculty.

Levels of Satisfaction With Conference Events. Levels of satisfaction have gone up over the past 3 years (from Dresden to San Francisco, from San Francisco to Montreal, and from Montreal to Chicago), with the only exceptions being a slight decrease in satisfaction with the call for submissions to the theme book and its value to communication researchers. Notably, satisfaction with the miniplenaries increased substantially from Montreal to Chicago, while remaining exactly the same in relation to the quality of posters and time for audience discussion. The most satisfying elements of the Chicago conference were the miniplenaries, theme sessions, and cross-unit program. There were no significant difference between students, junior faculty, and senior faculty.

Future Programming. Professional activities and social events are the two types of activities that respondents would most like to see more of, followed by cross-divisional/joint events and difference session types. Less than a fifth of the respondents were interested in outside conference activities. Of the six events offered at the conference, respondents mostly enjoyed cross-divisional programming. Next was programming devoted to grant-making opportunities, followed by programming devoted to academic professionalism. The respondents less enjoyed the programming devoted to media skills for academics. An analysis of the relationship between the level of enjoyment in the different events offered at the conference and the respondents' professional rank suggests that all of the events were better appreciated by students than they were by senior faculty and junior faculty. While cross-divisional programming was of most interest to all groups, for students the second most interesting item was programming devoted to academic professionalism, compared with programming devoted to grant-making opportunities among junior and senior faculty.

ICA's "Going Green." Of the survey's suggested "Green" initiatives, the recyclable conference bag was the most widely supported. Some respondents also addressed this question in the qualitative comments, but did not agree about the usefulness of a conference bag (recyclable or not). The idea of having major sessions podcasted was also well supported, followed by the video podcasting (versus the audio podcast). The response to the idea of the flash drive program replacing the hard copy is not conclusive; comments confirm the usefulness of the flash drive after the conference, but do not support giving up the printed program. One comment also questioned the "greenness" of this device. There was also a suggestion in having the conference papers on the flash drive.

Demographics. Around one-third of respondents were students, another third were senior faculty members, and one-fourth were junior faculty members. The remaining 7% were researchers, nonuniversity professionals and "other" (e.g., media activists, people belonging to several categories). In recent years there has been a gradual increase in the percentage of student respondents; this year, however, presents a slight decrease from last year. The percentage of faculty members oscillated between 58% and 60% over the past four conferences.

Fifty-five percent of the respondents were women, a slightly lower percentage than in Montreal, but still higher than in San Francisco and Dresden. The percentage of women was much higher among students than among faculty; 69.6% of students were women, compared to 43.5% of junior faculty and 44.4% of senior faculty.

SUMMARY OF QUALITATIVE COMMENTS

Participants appreciated the following aspects of the Chicago conference: 

• The location: Comments confirm the quantitative analysis. However, some respondents did profess being "tired," "bored" of Chicago, highlighting the repetitiveness of this location for ICA's and other organizations' conferences (i.e. NCA).
• The conference hotel: The majority of the comments in this respect were positive, although the issue of slow elevators was highlighted several times.
• The theme for the conference ("Keywords in Communication"): This theme was considered relevant, appealing, and open.
• Closing plenary session: People enjoyed the idea of such a session; however, some respondents stated that the theme for this session was not pertinent.
• The presidential address: Respondents praised the address' quality and relevance.
• The poster session: Many comments point to the interesting dynamic of this session and the good quality of the presentations.
• The Flash-drive program. This innovation was considered interesting, but much more useful after than during the conference.

Participants stated that there was room for improvement in the following areas:

• Hotel and meeting rooms: The size and layout of the meeting rooms were frequent targets of complaint; in particular, many respondents highlighted the difficulty in finding the meeting rooms in the hotel. 
• AV equipment and internet access: Respondents requested wi-fi access that was not restrained to the wireless cafe, and many suggested free internet access with computer stations. 
• Scheduling: The comments mostly addressed issues of time (the conference being too long but sessions being too short) and the overlapping of sessions. The timing of some sessions, as the closing plenary or the poster session, scheduled at lunch or dinner time, was also addressed.
• Session Roles: Respondents wished for more guidance on the roles of presenter, chairs and respondent.

Participants disagreed on the following issues:

• The quality of the conference (presentations, papers, keynotes): Some respondents indicated a low quality for the conference. However, there were also positive remarks highlighting the accurate selection process and, consequently, the high quality of some sessions (particularly the poster session).
• The closing plenary: Some comments question the choice of the speaker for this session, arguing that the theme (and the speaker) was not representative of an international communication organization. The change of topic was considered to be awkward.

Other suggestions: 

• Podcasting, blogging of the conference.
• Making the Flash drive program available on the Internet.
• More international participation, less U.S.-centricity.
• Free dinner events for socialization (2 or 3 during the conference).