Driving Goal 1: Connecting our Community

DRIVING GOAL 1     /      DRIVING GOAL 2     /      DRIVING GOAL 3     /      DRIVING GOAL 4

AOM is connecting members of the global management and organization community with one another and with external audiences through an unparalleled portfolio of engagement opportunities that transcend technological and geographic boundaries.

What does that mean for our worldwide membership?

Goal One Details: 81^st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management

81st Annual Meeting

AOM 2021 marked the second consecutive meeting held online as a virtual experience due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the need to remain apart physically, innovations geared toward making the 81^st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management a more connected and engaging experience which helped bring together more than 9,500 registrants virtually, representing 90 countries from 30 July - 3 August. Attendees had 1,400+ live (synchronous) sessions and 250+ on-demand (asynchronous) sessions to participate in, and AOM’s brand new Post-Conference All-Access program enabled current registrants to continue to interact and members who missed the meeting dates to register and access recorded sessions, session materials and chat well after the end of the Annual Meeting.

The Academy’s 76^th President, Quinetta M. Roberson, addressed members virtually on 8 August 2021 recognizing the shared strengths of Academy of Management members that enabled success during this continued period of disruption. The 2021 Presidential Address is available for viewing here.

2021 presented its challenges, but hosting the Annual Meeting virtually allowed for some exciting new program innovations.  For the first time, program session types were interwoven throughout the conference, allowing attendees a wide range of options for session participation each day.  Virtual attendance also provided the ability to attend missed sessions, and each live meeting was recorded and available on-demand to be viewed at any time. Additionally, advancements through our virtual meeting platform allowed AOM to collect presenter PowerPoints, videos, and other related session materials for attendees to view at their convenience, with the ability to create interaction via chat or live one on one meetings for the first time.       

AOM, its divisions, and its volunteers continued the tradition of including many special sessions and programs such as award ceremonies, the All-Academy Theme program, the Teaching and Learning Conference sessions, and even social events!  Virtual meetings in both 2020 and 2021 have provided AOM with valuable insight that will help in the development of future hybrid conferences to allow AOM to create meaningful and impactful global Annual Meeting programs.