Thank you for those who joined the live session of the 2020 Presidential Address by Janet Kohlhase, the 61st President of Western Regional Science Association today. Also, I also would like to express the special thanks to our speaker, Jenet Kohlhase, the chair, Gene Guiliano, and the discussant, Martin Andersson.

For those of you who could not join the live session due to the conflict of schedule and different time zones, here is the link to watch the recorded 2020 WRSA Presidential Address.https://zoom.us/rec/share/3fZbI4zA02RJG5Xc0G7NUYA_T5X7eaa82yFK86dey0aCCakSAm23yHbpAVA3AIOV (Password: m$#d4WD4)

The 2020 WRSA Presidential Address (Webinar on Zoom)
by Prof. Janet Kohlhase

Date Time: Aug 12, 2020 09:00 AM (US Pacific Time or GMT-7)

HOW TO JOIN

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     Meeting ID: 953 4797 9362

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Please send any questions to jaewon.lim@unlv.edu

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Best Regards,

Jaewon Lim
Executive Director
Western Regional Science Association 

For our 63rd meeting in 2024, we’re heading to Monterey, CA (returning to one of our member’s most beloved spots !! It is our 8th meeting in Monterey!).

Our meeting dates are February 11-14, 2024, with the opening plenary and reception scheduled for the afternoon of Sunday (Feb. 11), followed by three full days of sessions on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (Feb 12-14).

Only full papers (draft format acceptable) will be accepted for this conference. All submissions will be reviewed and will be assigned to a discussant on the program.

All presenters are expected to discuss a paper and/or chair a session.

Our meeting hotel is Hyatt Regency Monterey, one of our members’ most beloved meeting spots in California. Nestled in the Monterey pines on 22 secluded acres and minutes from the scenic wonders of the Central Coast, Hyatt Regency Monterey Hotel & Spa on Del Monte Golf Course inspires wonder and discovery. Indulge in unique experiences along the iconic Monterey Peninsula, surrounded by rugged, natural beauty and endless adventures. Our negotiated daily room rate is $229 plus applicable taxes and no resort fee (waived the $33 for our group). Compare our discounted rate to the regular daily room rate of $599 plus applicable taxes and a $33 resort fee. See the “Hotel Information” link to the left for the reservation instruction.

Full meeting information will be available in the upcoming Newsletter (be sure to renew your membership in order to receive it!) and on our website. Check back in the weeks to come!

The deadline for submission of full papers (draft version acceptable) is October 15, 2023! This also applies to the Tiebout Prize Paper Competition submission (The hard deadline for Tiebout Competition is October 15, 2023).

***URGENT NOTICE***

We regret to inform you that our 2020 WRSA-PRSCO Conference is cancelled. This has not been an easy decision.  Protecting the health of our members is our highest priority. Rapidly growing travel restrictions and health concerns have made it impossible to proceed with a viable meeting.  First, our colleagues in China have been restricted from travel.  Second, the US has restrictions in place for countries with Level 3 or 4 infections that include extra screening and possible quarantine.  Third, universities throughout the US are restricting non-essential travel.  As of yesterday, most campuses of the University of California system, the California State University system, the Ohio State system, as well as USC, Purdue, and ASU have imposed bans on both international and domestic travel for non-essential purposes.  Under these conditions, it is no longer possible to proceed with the conference.

What are the next steps? 

First, we advise that you cancel your hotel reservations as soon as possible.  We are in discussions with the hotel over the cancellation policy for our case.

Second, for those of you who were planning a Hawaiian vacation and would like to proceed with your plans, the hotel will respect the negotiated room rate.  Please note that your travel is by your own choice, and WRSA has no responsibility for interrupted travel plans or health problems.

Third, over the weekend we withdrew our regular cancellation policy and committed to full refunds of the registration fee for those who wished to cancel.  We will continue to honor full refunds, less the annual membership fee.  However, the cancellation of the conference comes with a large financial penalty that will have a serious impact on WRSA’s resources.  We, therefore, encourage you to consider donating the registration fee to WRSA. Please be patient with the refund process. It will take at least about a week.

Finally, over the next few weeks, the WRSA Executive Committee and Board will address how to manage awards, the installation of the new president, and plans for our future meetings.

Thank you for your understanding.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Genevieve Giuliano
60^th President, WRSA

Janet Kohlhase
President-elect, WRSA

Jaewon Lim
Executive Director, WRSA

The 2021 WRSA Meeting Program will be available later in early January 2021!

I look forward to seeing you all in Palm Springs!

The preliminary program for our upcoming meeting in Waikiki is now available here! 

This means the time to register for the meeting and book your hotel room is NOW. 
Full details are available on the website!
Remember the deadline for hotel reservations and pre-registration is February 21!

Best wishes from WRSA for a happy and productive 2020!

Many of you already made your reservations for the upcoming 2020 WRSA/PRSCO Joint Meeting at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki Beach.
I strongly recommend you to make a reservation for the hotel rooms at the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki, Hawaii as soon as you finalize your travel plan. 

To help you, WRSA wants to highlight the following points about your accommodation at Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki Beach.

1. By STAYING in the Conference Hotel, participants are helping each other to reduce the average room rate and the cost for the meeting
WRSA committed a minimum number of room nights to the conference hotel (Hilton Resort Hawaiian Village in Waikiki). In return, WRSA gets free access to the meeting spaces and the discounted daily room rates for our participants. If we do not meet the minimum room nights, we will be charged for the meeting spaces and can be required to pay room charges if our group fails to fill the contracted minimum room nights. That would cause us to raise the conference registration fee for future meetings. By staying in the conference hotel, we are helping each other to reduce the overall cost of the meeting and the negotiated room rate with the hotel.
That is why the participants for 2020 WRSA/PRSCO meeting staying at the conference hotel get the $160 discount for registration. 

2. The negotiated room rate for our members and participants is very competitive—and the Daily Resort Fee is “OPTIONAL,” not mandatory, as it would be if you do not book using our special rate.
As of today, according to the online hotel reservation sites, such as “Hotels.com” and “Kayak.com”, the comparable hotels and resorts in Waikiki have a daily rate over $250, compared to our negotiated room rate at the Hilton, $229/night (plus applicable taxes). Additionally, the resort charge is “OPTIONAL” at a discounted rate of $20 per night, compared to the mandatory $45 to $50 per night for most of the hotels and resort in Waikiki. If you book through third-party online reservations services, you will pay the daily resort fee of $50 at Hilton Hawaiian Village, Waikiki. Again, the resort charge is “OPTIONAL” and you do not need to pay unless you plan to use basic guest internet access (up to 2 devices), Hawaiian cultural activities, and outdoor morning exercise classes. The hotel has agreed to honor our special room rate three days prior to and following our meeting (Mar 18th through Mar 21st), based on availability.

3. Daily Parking Fee is $49 for visitors and commuting is not a good idea!
Parking at the Hilton Resort Hawaiian Village will be $49 for 5 hours or more.  Parking, in general, is extremely expensive in Waikiki and Honolulu in general.  Also, commuting to the conference hotel in Waikiki during the morning and evening rush hours can be very congested.

4. Most importantly, all of us will be in Hawaii for sharing and discussing interesting ideas not only in the meeting rooms, but also at the lobby, bars, and even in elevators!  
We are excited to meet old and new friends and colleagues for the 2020 WRSA/PRSCO Joint Meeting in Hawaii. We will meet them officially in the plenary and breakout sessions by topics. However, WRSA always encourages informal scholarly interaction and collegiality that extends beyond the official conference activities! You will expand opportunities for yourself and others to make new friends and get to know colleagues better by staying in the conference hotel, so, again, we offer a lower conference registration fee for all who do so.

HOW TO RESERVE YOUR ROOM:

Rooms may be reserved via this link (https://www.hilton.com/en/hi/groups/personalized/H/HNLHVHH-BEW-20200312/index.jhtml?WT.mc_id=POG) or  by calling 808-949-4321 and asking for the Western Regional Science Association (WRSA 2020) group rate. 
Please note: after February 21, 2020, or as soon as our block fills, the hotel will no longer honor our special room rate! So be sure to book early!

Students wishing to minimize costs by sharing a room: please feel free to contact me via email. 

The overview of the program for our upcoming joint meeting in Hawaii is now available here! 

Remember the extended deadline for paper (or abstract) submission is Dec 15th!
Also, the deadline for hotel reservations and pre-registration is February 21!

This is a reminder for submitting your paper before the extended paper submission deadline for our annual meeting in Waikiki, Hawaii, March 18-21, 2020.
The extended due is Dec 15th, just 6 days away.
Be sure to get your paper (or abstract) submitted before then!

Ready to submit? There’s no reason to wait until the last minute. Simply visit the WRSA website and use the Login/Register link at the left to upload your paper and register for the meeting.

Remember that the hard deadline for the Graduate Students’ Paper Competition for Tiebout Prize is still November 15. If you are applying for Tiebout Paper Competition, submit your full paper by Nov 15.

I also encourage you to make your travel arrangements early. We will be meeting at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort, where our negotiated room rate is $229/night (plus taxes). Reservations can be made via this link or by calling 808-949-4321and asking for the Western Regional Science Association group rate. The hotel has agreed to honor our special room rate three days prior to and following our meeting dates (Mar 18th through Mar 21st), based on availability. 
Please note: after January 21, 2020, or as soon as our room block is full, the hotel will no longer honor our special room rate! Be sure to book early!

I’m also still looking for several students to assist with meeting registration in Hawaii. In exchange for 8-10 hours of volunteering at the registration desk, students will receive a complete rebate of their preregistration fees (worth $150, to be processed as a refund following the meeting). Contact me if you’re interested.