Every year, ICA conducts an evaluation survey of attendees to the association's annual conference. This article highlights the primary results of the 2010 survey, which is based on the Singapore conference held this past June. The full report, including qualitative comments, can be found on the ICA website.

Despite the location, the Singapore conference was very well attended. With a total of 1,691 registered participants, it was the second biggest ICA conference outside North America, following the 2006 Dresden conference. The response rate of 24% was slightly higher than last year's survey. The makeup of the respondents seemed to echo that of the conference attendees. In contrast to the previous year, only 44% of respondents were from North America, and Asia/Pacific and Australia/New Zealand together accounted for 27%.

Overall evaluations seem quite consistent with previous conferences, with respondents particularly favorable in their ratings of the conference organization, preparation and information, which was ranked higher than in any of the previous 3 years.

Motivation to Participate. The pattern of motivations for attending seems to be quite stable, and this year was no exception. As might be expected, Singapore was viewed as an interesting place to visit, certainly in comparison with Chicago. The job market continues to be the least cited motive for attending the conference, while keeping up with recent research remains the top choice, slightly edging out socializing and meeting with friends. As you would expect, the motives vary by the individual respondent category, with predictable differences among the categories of student, junior, 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 (72%), followed by Division/Interest group business meetings (57%). Notable this year was the turnout for the Plenary Poster Session, which at 49% was nearly double the attendance of the Poster Session in Chicago and a substantial increase over previous years as well. The percentage of respondents who reported attending the opening plenary session and the closing plenary sessions increased over last year by 8% and 9%, respectively - although the opening reception drew fewer participants.

Enjoyment of Events. The top five ranked events that participants enjoyed were Division/Interest Group panels, Division/Interest Group receptions, the university/institutional receptions, theme panels, and Division/Interest Group business meetings. The least-enjoyed event continues to be the new members' orientation. Again, there are differences between member categories of student, junior, and senior faculty, with the consistent pattern being a higher level of reported enjoyment by senior faculty in every category.

Attendance and Membership of Divisions and Interest Groups. The Communication and Technology Division, with 37%, passed the Mass Communication Division (35%) as the most well attended division at the Singapore conference (although Mass Comm, a larger Division, registered slightly more members than CAT), followed by: Political Communication (31%), Journalism Studies (27%), Health (24%), Intercultural (23%), and Global Communication & Social Change (22%). The most significant decreases were in Mass Communication (down 6% from 2009), Communication History (also down 6%), and Philosophy of Communication (down 5%).

Future Programming. Here too, there was a difference between ranks in expressed interest in types of programming, with students and junior faculty favoring programming devoted to academic professionalism, media skills, fellowship opportunities, grant-making opportunities and junior career opportunities. In other words, a clear endorsement of programming focused on career and professional development, on the part of students and junior faculty. This is particularly notable in light of the higher expressed satisfaction by senior faculty for all categories of "traditional" programming. There was also a general preference for more social events.

Satisfaction With Logistics. On the whole, there was general satisfaction with conference logistics. Respondents gave favorable reviews to the Singapore SUNTEC International Conference Center, and were impressed with the efforts of the local organizing committee. Respondents were very happy with the lunches served at the Conference Center, which had the benefit of keeping folks around the conference at times when they might otherwise have dispersed. Less favorable comments addressed the lack of seating areas in the Conference Center, the lack of wireless internet access, and the overly enthusiastic air-conditioning. The flash-drive program continues to receive favorable but mixed reviews, in part because of the difficulty of consulting the program as one moved around the conference. Despite some concerns about the challenges of attending the conference in Singapore, 42% said the location made no difference in terms of ease or difficulty, with 30% reporting more difficulty and 27% saying it made it easier to attend.

Virtual Conference. At the Singapore conference we experimented with a virtual, online component of the conference, working with our publishing partners at Wiley-Blackwell. The initial experiment was well received by the respondents who had participated in it, and they were particularly favorable about the online papers, plus commentaries and discussion.

Demographics. Around one-third of respondents were students, another third were senior faculty members, and somewhat more than one-fourth were junior faculty members; this pattern closely matches that of previous years. This year's gender balance shifted from last year: 47% of the respondents were women.