To participate on the program, all presenters, chairs, moderators, and discussants are required to pay two separate fees:

1. the registration fee for the annual meeting before the submissions deadline; and
2. SAA membership dues for the meeting year (memberships run from January 1 to December 31). 

The SAA begins accepting membership dues for the following membership year on August 1. Individuals who are not current SAA members must join the Society by November 15, and current members have until January 30 to renew their membership. For further details about registration and membership requirements, as well as other policies, please visit the Submissions Guidelines page.

The SAA Board has the established meeting registration policy.

The following current refund policies will continue to apply for all SAA annual meetings that go forward:

• The SAA has always refunded (in full) anyone unable to attend the annual meeting (documentation of cancellation required).
• Registration fees for presenters who elect to withdraw from the program will be refunded by the SAA office—minus a $25 processing fee—upon receipt of an emailed or written request (no verbal requests, please) timestamped/postmarked by December 1 immediately prior to the meeting. Program participants are not eligible for any refunds after December 1 for any given meeting, without documentation.
• Registration fees for those not on the program who elect to not attend will be refunded by the SAA office—minus a $25 processing fee—upon receipt of e-mailed or written request (no verbal requests, please) postmarked by the advance registration date deadline.
• No refunds are available after the advance registration deadline except in the case of registrants who provide documentation that shows they cannot attend, such as a visa denial, governmental travel advisory or prohibition, employer travel prohibition, or medical reason. Refunds cannot be given after the event begins.
• In the event an SAA annual meeting is canceled, meeting registrations will automatically be applied to the next year's annual meeting unless a full refund is specifically requested.
• Hotel: Members must notify the headquarters hotel of a cancellation no later than three (3) working days before date of arrival to receive a refund from the hotel.
• Travel: We strongly encourage meeting participants to familiarize themselves in advance with refund and cancellation policies for airlines, car rentals, trains, or other travel providers, as there is likely to be a great deal of variation in what is allowed.
• Excursion and Workshops: If you need to cancel your excursion or workshop registration, please email [email protected]. Please note that refunds will not be processed until after advance registration closes. The SAA will email you to confirm that your refund has been processed.

The SAA Board policy is that presenting at the meeting is a privilege of membership. However, in the interest of broader dialogue with community leaders, descendant communities, and scholars from other disciplines, we have a process for waiving this requirement.

Eligible for a membership waiver is any individual who is invited to participate in an organized session (as a presenter or discussant) at the annual meeting in order to present information for the benefit of SAA members and who is neither an archaeologist, anthropologist, nor a professional in a field whose members would normally belong to the SAA. Decisions under this policy will be made by the executive director, who reviews whether the individual meets the criteria.

Please submit the waiver request using this form by November 1.

Come to our virtual First-Time Attendee and New Member Meeting Orientation and/or our in-person First-Time Attendee and New Member Meeting Orientation, where you can get information about how to get the most from the meeting and ask any questions you have.

The final program and the final meeting app are terrific resources that list all sessions, presentations, and the dates/times/rooms where they are scheduled.