October 2026

AERA has announced that Seattle and Atlanta will host the 2030 and 2031 AERA Annual Meetings, respectively, marking the association’s return to two cities that have not hosted the Annual Meeting in decades.

The 2030 Annual Meeting will take place April 10–14 in Seattle, the first time AERA has convened in the city since 2001. The association will then return to Atlanta in 2031 for the first time since 1993. Both meetings will feature centrally located venues with convenient access to hotels, restaurants, and local attractions.

AERA Returns to Seattle in 2030

The 2030 AERA Annual Meeting will be held primarily at the Seattle Convention Center, with the Hyatt Regency Seattle and Sheraton Grand Seattle serving as headquarters hotels.

The convention center and hotels are located within walking distance of one another, providing a compact downtown meeting campus for sessions, meetings, and events. Attendees will also have access to nearby restaurants, shops, and cultural attractions.

The 2030 meeting will mark AERA's first return to Seattle in nearly three decades.

Atlanta to Host 2031 Annual Meeting

In 2031, AERA will return to Atlanta for the first time in nearly four decades. The city has longstanding connections to education, civil rights, and social change, as well as a substantial community of colleges, universities, and research institutions.

The 2031 Annual Meeting will be held entirely within a hotel-based meeting campus. The Atlanta Marriott Marquis, Hyatt Regency Atlanta, and Hilton Atlanta will collectively accommodate the Annual Meeting program, providing meeting rooms, ballrooms, guest accommodations, and gathering spaces without the need for a convention center.

The three hotels are located near one another in downtown Atlanta, with connections through the city's pedestrian skybridge network facilitating movement among meeting venues. Restaurants, entertainment venues, and cultural attractions are also nearby.

Revisions to Host City Selection Policy

Atlanta’s selection follows a February 2026 decision by the AERA Council to revise the criteria for selecting Annual Meeting host cities, allowing previously ineligible locations to be reconsidered. The new policy recognizes that city-level protections may differ from state laws and establishes a framework for evaluating host cities based on nondiscrimination protections, safety, access, and other factors affecting attendees. It also calls for periodic reassessment as conditions change.

AERA previously relocated its planned 2013 Annual Meeting from Atlanta to San Francisco following Georgia’s passage of a restrictive immigration law in 2011, citing concerns about racial profiling and the ability of all attendees to participate without fear of harassment.

Additional information about the 2030 and 2031 Annual Meetings, including dates for the Atlanta meeting, will be shared as planning progresses.