Tristanne M. Staudt is facing what she calls the “worst-case scenario.”

As the executive director of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, Staudt heads an organization whose members largely hail from the federal workforce. In the wake of the Trump Administration’s slashing of that workforce, along with severely restricting travel and  spending, AAPOR’s membership is, to put it mildly, facing a lot of uncertainty.

“About 17 percent of our members are federal employees, and about another 56 percent are private sector—and half of that 56 percent are federal contractors that rely on federal contracts and grant money,” she says. “So about half of our total membership right now is impacted by all these regulation changes, whether it be travel bans, communication bans, firing of federal employees, or cuts to grants and contracts.”

In the short term, that means Staudt anticipates that attendance for its annual conference in St. Louis in May will be cut in half. Still, Staudt says, AAPOR is committed to in-person education. There’s little appetite for a virtual conference such as the ones associations cobbled together during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. And at the current moment, such an event would be impractical for the members who are most affected by White House directives.

We’re not doing 500 things and just hoping some of them land with our members

AAPOR Executive Director Tristanne M. Staudt

“The kind of conference where you’re sitting in front of a computer for three days—one, it’s terrible,” she says. “Your engagement isn’t there. Everyone’s just being distracted. But two, where our members are right now, everyone’s being pulled into emergency meetings. There’s things changing every day, so nobody has the bandwidth to do it, even if they wanted to.”

AAPOR’s current response runs on two tracks—emergency financial support for attendees, and opportunities for members to meet and discuss the crisis directly. 

It has discounted its conference registration fee for federal employees, and began collecting donations for travel grants to assist attendees. Last week it announced $599 grants for attendees demonstrating a need; as of last week, Staudt said, the fund had enough money to support 28 grants.

In the meantime, AAPOR is designing some virtual programming that addresses the specific challenges members are facing. “We’re doing a lot of professional development sessions, networking sessions that might be tied to a topic,” she says. “But they also might just be venting sessions and connecting with people who are in a similar position, or talking about the DEI executive orders and other executive orders that have cut LGBTQ research.” 

As that happens, AAPOR is listening to members on its busy listserv and trying to determine how best to move forward. “I think people are scared or worried about what’s coming next, so we’re not doing 500 things and just hoping some of them land with our members, but really listening to the members” Staudt says. “We’re a survey organization, so of course we will be surveying them. What’s keeping you up at night? What kind of help can we provide you?”

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