Hot off the wire: Conference news and notes

The TWS Annual Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, is just 70 days away. So we’ll be providing you with the latest news and updates weekly through early October to help you get ready for a great and memorable wildlifer experience!

On pace for 1,800+

Pre-registration closed last Sunday, and we already have more than 1,040 attendees registered, putting us on pace for one of the biggest conference turnouts in the 23-year history of the event! Don’t miss out on the chance to experience TWS live. Click here to register today!

Waiting until Sunday afternoon to arrive? Here’s what you’ll miss.

Don’t wait until Sunday afternoon to arrive in Raleigh. Sunday morning is packed with a powerful lineup of events to kick off your conference experience. We’ll be leading off with a 70-minute Plenary —Partnerships Across the Spectrum of Wildlife Governance — featuring Shane Mahoney (President and CEO of Conservation Visions, Inc.) and John Beck (Department of Labor Relations, Michigan State University). Immediately following the Plenary, Jim Nichols — the 2015 Aldo Leopold Award recipient — will deliver a 30-minute talk titled, On the Evolution of the Wildlife Profession: The Times They Are A-Changin’. You’ll then find out who was selected to receive the 2016 Aldo Leopold Award! And as if that’s not enough excitement for one morning, you’ll then see more of your peers receive awards and will learn about what lies ahead for you and your Society at the Annual Members Meeting. Join us early as we expect to have a full house for these sessions!

Hotels Alert

We received word from the Marriott, one of our two host hotels, that they have less than 40 rooms remaining in our discounted room block. If you want to take advantage of the discounted rates and free in-room Wi-Fi service available to you as a TWS member, visit our hotels page at our conference website and make your reservation at the Marriott — which is connected to the convention center — or the Sheraton, which is a short two-minute walk away.

THE list

Just two years ago we ran eight concurrent sessions at our conference, and we increased that number to 10 last year in Winnipeg. This year’s conference features 12 concurrent sessions, a daily plenary or keynote, and three poster sessions to provide you with more than 600 educational opportunities! You can download a PDF of our presentations and posters by clicking here. The only information not included yet is our recently approved Student Research-in-Progress Posters which will be added soon!

New!

All concurrent sessions will end at 5 p.m. on Monday and Tuesday so that you can start to wind down for the evening activities with a one-hour networking event in the Members Activity Center. Grab a refreshing drink while you explore the exhibit hall, engage with our exhibitors, make some new connections and catch up with old friends.

More networking opportunities

Our conference features annual working group meetings during the day — which are open to all members whether you’re a current member of the group or not — and associated networking receptions on Monday and Tuesday night. This week, we’ve added five new events, including:

• Wetlands Working Group meeting
• Biological Diversity Working Group meeting
• University of Montana networking reception
• Virginia Tech networking reception
• Texas A&M networking reception

Check out the full list of 17 working groups and 17 associated networking events that are scheduled so far. We’ll update the list on these two pages as new meetings and events are confirmed.

For more information about this year’s conference…

Visit our conference website by clicking here!