Our Hybrid Conference and Fees FAQ

Our non-for-profit status and commitment to Early Career Researchers

In 2022, the HSA committee is excited to bring you our first ever hybrid conference. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged us all to rethink the format and execution of learned society events. Whilst the inability to hold our conferences in person in 2020 and 2021 certainly posed difficulties, the move to online events has undoubtedly opened us up to a larger and more diverse audience. Over the past two years we have been able to welcome conference delegates from many more countries around the world, meaning we have also been able to share research from places such as Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, India, China, Turkey, Hungary, Austria, Finland, Norway, Netherlands, Ireland, Brazil, Canada and Australia, as well as from closer to home here in the UK. In addition to a wider geographical reach, online conferencing is also inclusive to those whose personal and/or professional commitments, finances and circumstances would prevent them from attending in person. We aim to continue developing these networks as part of our commitment to improving the diversity and inclusivity of the HSA.

At the same time, we do not want to lose the in-person connectedness that our pre-pandemic conferences offered. For many of our members, the full experience of the annual HSA conference is a highlight in their calendars. There are significant benefits to having several days away from the (home-)office to be immersed in all things housing research, to think without disruption from competing commitments, to catch up with friends, to meet new people and to find inspiration from a conversation in the coffee queue. The consistently positive feedback we received from our delegates at our pre-pandemic conferences indicate an appetite for a return to in-person presentations and discussions.

Therefore, in 2022 we aim to bring you the best of both. We are excited to welcome you back to Sheffield and would love for you to attend in person if you can. However, our online option means you don’t have to miss out if an in-person event isn’t possible for you. The hybridity of the event does mean there is a fee for both the in-person and online options. As a learned society we take our ticketing costs seriously and our priority is to keep these as low as possible for our members. We are a not-for-profit, voluntary organisation; all money that is generated from membership and event fees is returned to the society to ensure its continued operation. Whilst providing an online conference option may appear to be a low-expense activity, the fees are necessary to offset the costs of equipment, venue hire, administrative support, bursaries and awards such as the Valerie Karn prize. The executive committee have been working hard behind-the-scenes to develop this new hybrid format and we hope you will agree that it means the HSA will continue to go from strength to strength.

Our Hybrid conference structure

Our conference will run between March 28th to April 15th, with an in-person “Housing Research Summit” in Sheffield between the 4th and 6th April 2022. 

Between March 28th and April 15th, we will be holding a number of keynote speeches and paper presentation sessions online. Our online attendees will be able to access parts of the in-person summit, including online access to the keynotes and plenary speeches and two of the five paper streams.

Accommodation/hotels

In past years the Housing Studies Association has provided a residential ticket option where we would provide hotel accommodation at the conference venues. For an organisation run by volunteers, this is not sustainable due to the time and cost to the organisation.

However, we have secured a limited amount of discounted hotel rooms available for delegates to book at the conference venue. These hotel rooms will be available first-come, first-served. The deadline for booking hotel rooms at the discounted rate is the 20th February 2021.

The links to these discounted hotel rooms will be sent to you on purchase of a conference ticket.

If you are paying by invoice, please email the conference organisers for the link and we will happily send this across to you.

Email the Conference Organisers about Hotel Accommodation

Conference Platform

The Housing Studies Association has purchased the Whova app for this year's Annual Conference. This platform will allow us to foster our community across the digital and in-person sessions, enable attendees to connect with colleagues from around the world, and provide access to all sessions in one easy to find place (no more worrying about which joining details are for which session). 

The platform also has an app for your personal electronic device such as smartphone, enabling you to connect and engage with the conference in new ways, such as Q&As and photo-competitions.

Further details will be provided in due course to conference attendees.

The conference venue

The in-person element of the conference will be held at the Crowne Plaza Royal Victoria Hotel in Sheffield.