The American Ornithological Society is excited to share some great news with you: Ramona Fletcher joined the AOS team in January as our new Meeting Manager!
As you know, the AOS Annual Meetings are at the heart of what we do; our meetings provide the opportunity for ornithologists to share new science, build personal and professional connections, learn about important tools in our field, and create a strong community. A team of very dedicated volunteers and staff support every aspect of our meetings, from scientific programming, to professional development opportunities, to social events. AOS staff also play a critical role in all of the behind-the-scenes work that keeps meetings running smoothly, from negotiating with hotels and conference centers, to overseeing the AV setup, to ensuring we have food and beverages at events, to managing abstracts and Travel Grant submission portals.
That’s why Ramona will play such an especially important role on the AOS team! Ramona has extensive experience in meetings and event planning and she will work on all aspects of supporting, overseeing, and coordinating our meetings. She has worked closely with professional associations similar to the AOS in the past, most recently with the Association of Child Life Professionals and a global meeting planning company where she served multiple association partners. She is highly skilled at planning scientific conferences and juggling all the different balls associated with conference planning. Concurrent sessions, abstract management, sponsor engagement, food and beverage selection, venue negotiation, general meeting organization and tracking… Ramona’s an expert! She loves working with volunteers and has been doing a great job getting to know our meeting volunteers, staff, and procedures over the last two weeks.
Ramona’s experience, expertise, engagement, and enthusiasm make her a fantastic addition to the AOS, and hiring a meeting manager reflects AOS’s continued investment in improving our meetings. Our member priorities survey, conducted in early 2023, showed that hosting in-person conferences is one of our members’ top priorities for the AOS in the near future. Our new meeting manager position is more senior than our previous staff events coordinator position, bringing an expanded skill set and experience level to such an important role within the AOS.
I hope you’ll join me in enthusiastically welcoming Ramona to the AOS team!
Judith Scarl
AOS Executive Director
Welcome Ramona!!