Updated June 2026:
Burke Fellows and academic 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 the Fellow’s or Panelist’s part.
In order to facilitate the intellectual exchange and personal networking for which APL is known, Burke Fellows and Panelists are also 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 important extenuating circumstances for doing so. These circumstances should be explained upon accepting the acceptance.
We realize that, on rare occasions, someone may be forced to drop their plans to attend due to circumstances beyond their control. In such a situation, the person withdrawing should clearly explain the reasons for their withdrawing. 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 plans, a better offer from a different conference, a sudden sense that “I have a lot of other work to do right now,” etc.) are not really reasonable justifications. This kind of behavior is unprofessional.
If a Panelist communicates a withdrawal to us less than one month before the start of the conference (thereby necessitating us to make a last-minute change to our program and lineup), we reserve the right to 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, preemptively bar that person from attendance at future APL conferences.