International Field Directors and Technologies Conference (IFD&TC)

The Conference

The intent of the IFD&TC (according to its charter) “is to provide informal [emphasis added] interaction between field director, field technology, and survey management personnel of a type not usually available in professional conventions or through professional journals. The sessions [are] informal and focus on work in progress or recently completed, and on exchanges of information, practices, and opinions on relevant subjects of common interest. Finished papers ready for publication, public distribution, or production in official formal proceedings are not required [and not encouraged].” Extensive time is provided for discussion during sessions and for casual interchange during lengthy breaks between sessions. Because the attendees generally do not represent organizations in competition with each other, the discussions also are unusually frank, open, and mutually sharing. These characteristics have fostered strong personal loyalty by regular attendees and a welcoming attitude toward those new to the field.

Presentations frequently focus on the practical aspects of survey data collection by personal interviews, telephone interviews, mail questionnaires, email, the Web, and by fax. Topics often include the following: (a) the hiring, training, and supervision of interviewers; (b) methods of improving response rates; and (c) the technical issues of designing and managing computer-assisted personal, telephone, Web, and multi-mode surveys.

The annual conference is typically held in May, immediately following the annual conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR). The IFD&TC is typically held in the same city (or a nearby city) as AAPOR, starting with an informal party on a Sunday evening and continuing through Wednesday morning. For details about the conference, see the IFD&TC Web site. To limit conference size and to maintain the tradition of openness, candor, sharing, and informality, attendance restrictions are part of the charter. Attendance is limited to “persons involved in survey research who have responsibility for field direction, technological aspects, or management of survey data collection, and who are associated with academic institutions, government agencies, or other nonprofit organizations.”

Speakers from profit-making organizations have been invited to attend sessions on topics of common interest. No organization may send more than 16 attendees, and these must be divided between field director and field technology interest areas. All attendees are encouraged to participate in the program as presenters, panelists, facilitators, or chairs, and so forth.

The 2007 conference had approximately 250 attendees—a conference size the organizers and members have found appropriate for a good mix of topics and informal interaction. While the bulk of the attendees are from the United States, major contingents generally attend from organizations in Canada, Great Britain, and the Netherlands, with less frequent attendance from other countries.

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