We are excited to announce the Call for Abstracts for the 78th Annual WAPOR Conference, which will take place May 12-15, 2025, in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, in conjunction with the 80th Annual AAPOR Conference. This joint event is a leading forum for discussing advancements in public opinion and survey research, providing an opportunity for networking, learning about the latest research trends, and engaging with diverse experts from across the globe. The venue for the conjoined AAPOR and WAPOR conferences is the St. Louis Union Station. 

The call for abstracts is open now, and we encourage submissions aligned with this year’s special conference theme, as well as other topics related to public opinion and survey research. The theme for 2025 reflects the complex and evolving landscape of election polls, focusing on the challenges and innovations that have emerged in a world increasingly shaped by political polarization, misinformation, and technological change. We welcome submissions on a variety of relevant topics, and look forward to your contributions to what promises to be a rich and insightful event.

We continue to rock!

Last month, not long after we parted in Seoul, I cited 15 pieces of sharing gathered from members. After that, I received more ideas and feedback from many more colleagues, and I would like to share them with members and friends in this month’s President’s Letter and Video.

First, I will share a piece from our senior member, Frits Spangenberg, who has refined his previous ideas on how we can reach out to new members during conferences. I will then share a quote from a recipient of this year’s Janet Harkness Award, which will be released in full by Rico Neumann, our Publications Chair, as a new initiative. Finally, I will post a passage written by Kseniya Kizilova, our Executive Director, about our new membership platform. I can share a lot more, but I don’t want to bore you with too many words.

Here comes Frits’ ideas which I fully support, and which I hope will be further discussed on various platforms, like committees, WAPORnet and even personal chats:

When the Annual Conference has been successful as it was recently in Seoul we can lean back and feel happy, but we can also think of possible new challenges. Since we sell Conference attendance and one year membership as a package, we welcome a great many ‘First Time Attenders – Greenhorn Members’. The group of WAPOR members shows a considerable group of ‘Dinosaurs’ (like myself), a group of Professionals (still employed) and a group of mostly rather young ‘First Attenders’. I always try to get in touch with First Attenders, because I like to learn and get inspired by the youngest generations. This year we had a large group of First Attenders who mostly flocked together and were not always easy to get in touch with. My suggestion for future Conferences is to actively invite existing members to coach First Attenders, not just once to say ‘Hello’. For example, we can send to each First Attender 5 names of well-known and experienced WAPOR members who would be present at an event, so that they can get together during the breaks. The First Attenders will feel that their presence is appreciated and that it may be worthwhile to stay as members for longer than the package they bought. We give an excuse for people to step out of their bubbles […].

Nonresponse is a critical issue for data quality in panel surveys. Many researchers have demonstrated the potential of machine learning (ML) models to predict nonresponse, enabling survey managers to intervene preemptively with low-propensity participants. We present a review of ML techniques for nonresponse propensity modeling in panel surveys, providing evidence that standard supervised learning models, using demographics and nonresponse history as predictors, consistently perform well in predicting nonresponse across various panel studies. Finally, we share early results from an experimental study to demonstrate how ML-based adaptive design might work in practice.

WAPOR Latin America, the regional chapter of the World Association for Public Opinion Research which brings together specialists in research on public opinion, communication and political behavior, will meet in the beautiful city of Florianópolis, southern Brazil, on occasion of its XI Congress, which will be an exclusively onsite event. During three days, from April 28 to 30, 2025, scholars, consultants, pollsters, professionals from private market and public opinion research agencies and specialists in the areas of social and political communication who focus in Latin America will meet at the premises of UFSC (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina) for insightful exchanges of ideas, knowledge and experiences.

National Representatives at WAPOR serve an important role within the organization promoting the mission of WAPOR in their countries and facilitating advancement of public opinion research domain worldwide. They encourage professional colleagues and students to consider WAPOR membership and participation. National Representatives participate in WAPOR’s Freedom Survey conducted every 5 years that serves as the basis for the ESOMAR-WAPOR Freedom in the World Report. National Representatives also provide a brief annual report and current advice as needed to WAPOR regarding polling-related issues within my county/region including, but not limited to, threats to the freedoms to conduct and publish opinion polls, as well as general trends in the opinion research business. 

WAPOR announces an open call for nominations for the position of WAPOR National Representatives for 2024-2025 in the following countries/ territories: Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Barbados, Burundi, Congo, Croatia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Finland, Gabon, Guatemala, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Iceland, Ireland, Kosovo, Liberia, Madagascar, Malta, Mozambique, Namibia, Norway, Oman, Taiwan, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Vietnam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.  

Dear WAPOR members,

WAPOR invites expressions of interest to expand the following our Committees:

• Finance Committee: 1 member

• Membership Committee: 2 members

The period of service shall be 2024, with the possibility to prolong for another year.

To learn more about the activities of the WAPOR committees, please, consult the WAPOR Constitution: https://wapor.org/about-wapor/constitution/ 

To learn about the committee chairs and other members, please, check the WAPOR website: https://wapor.org/about-wapor/committees/

WAPOR Committees are important bodies that both facilitate and guide the development of the Association. We very much look forward to welcoming new members aboard the WAPOR Committees!