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The Annual American Psychiatric Association Meeting
While the American Psychiatric Association (APA) sponsors several annual meetings, the largest function is the Annual meeting. In 2008, XXXX people attended the meeting from XX countries across the globe. In addition, the event is well covered by the media as it is often the place where new findings are discussed.

Meeting Structure
The meeting is the major annual educational event for psychiatrists and mental health workers in the World. It also serves administrative functions, allowing committees, work groups, and the governing body of the APA to meet and conduct work. The meeting is a week-long event with many competing lectures and events. Material is organized into Courses, Workshops, Symposium, Posters, and Lectures. About 9-months before the meeting, lectures and events are proposed in writing. The proposed topics are then competitively screened by peers. It is considered an honor to be allowed to present at the APA and the lecturers are generally not paid. Given the lengthy peer-review process for lectures, newer research is presented via "posters" wherein the researcher is given a space to display their findings and time to discuss them. Here, too, the research is still peer-reviewed.

Location
The APA Annual meeting rotates to major cities within the United States and meetings are distributed between convention centers and large hotels. The event is booked ten or more years in advance. Up to 9,500 hotel rooms and 60-70 motor coaches are required to manage the peak days of attendance.