Updated June 2026:
Burke Fellows and panelists who receive an acceptance to the conference and accept that acceptance by registering to attend are thereby expected to attend the conference. Standards of professionalism suggest that such a situation creates a binding obligation on your part.
In order to facilitate the intellectual exchange and personal networking for which APL is known, Burke Fellows and Panelists are generally expected to attend the entire conference, from Thursday afternoon to Saturday morning. Please do not plan to arrive late or depart early unless there are extenuating circumstances for doing so.
We realize that, on rare occasions, someone may be forced to withdraw their acceptance due to circumstances beyond their control. In such a situation, the person withdrawing should clearly explain the reasons for their withdrawing to one or more board members. Major life events (e.g., the death of an immediate family member) are of course reasonable justifications for a withdrawal. Ordinary life-planning challenges, however (e.g., vacation, difficulties picking a child up from summer camp, realizing “I have a lot of other work to do right now,” etc.) are not reasonable excuses.
If a panelist communicates a withdrawal to us less than two weeks before the start of the conference (thereby necessitating us to make a last-minute change to our program), we will keep 100% of the registration fee.
If a panelist does NOT communicate a withdrawal to us and is simply a no-show at the conference, we will keep 100% of the registration fee and, furthermore, will preemptively bar that person from attendance at future APL conferences.