04/21/2022

Results of The Society for Scholarly Publishing's 2022 Survey on Travel, Events and Return-to-office Plans

Consider these insights as you plan your events and meetings

Editor's note: Today's post is by Madelyn Stone, the membership administrator for the Society for Scholarly Publishing.

As we mark the two-year anniversary of the day many of us were promised the COVID-19 pandemic would be behind us, we are still very much living with the realities of the disease. Some governments are moving to treat the virus as endemic, due to declining case rates along with the availability of vaccines, treatments and rapid testing. At the same time, we've come to learn we cannot predict what new variants and surges will emerge next.

What does that mean for those of us who have become more familiar with Zoom screens than conference rooms? As in-person work and events become reality again, even as new subtypes and fresh waves of COVID-19 emerge, there are countless variables to consider when contemplating a return to business travel and the office commute. Especially as we gear up for the Society for Scholarly Publishing's (SSP's) Annual Meeting in Chicago this June, concerns about in-person activities are top of mind.

In February of this year, SSP sent out a 10-question survey asking about your plans for travel, returning to the office, and attending in-person events. Many thanks to the 273 of you who responded! What we found, in the wake and continuing waves of the pandemic, was that expectations around working and attending events are in flux. We saw a wide range of comfort levels with in-person activities, though a few common themes emerged. More than 80 percent of respondents, for instance, indicated a vaccination requirement would make them feel comfortable coming to an in-person event. And all of our respondents indicated that, at one point or another, pandemic conditions had necessitated remote work.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Scholarly Kitchen.