Over 400 of us from 40 states and 12 countries gathered in St. Pete Beach for the 2008 Southern Management Association meetings.  Over 3 days we participated in 59 paper sessions, 1 plenary session, 1 networking breakfast, 5 networking breaks, 1 business meeting, 1 welcome reception, and 1 beachside annual membership reception (with a beautiful sunset over the Gulf of Mexico).  Highlights of the meeting included the first annual Paper Development Workshop which received outstanding reviews from participants and the Friday night Halloween Party.  Our stellar local arrangements coordinator Geralyn Franklin with the help of her colleagues Jenny Waggoner, Joneen Maczis, and Jen Burns all of the College of Business at the University of South Florida-St. Petersburg transformed the ballroom of the Island Grand into a spooky yet decorative setting for our Halloween bash which included a delicious dinner buffet, a live band, a costume contest, and (if you stayed long enough) dancing with SMA’s president, Charlotte Sutton.  Special thanks to SMA members and their friends and family members who outdid themselves by donning an array of creative costumes appropriate for the occasion.  (Pictures are available at www.southernmanagement.org on the SMA website.)  Special thanks also to the costume contest judging team of Micki Kacmar (University of Alabama), Brian Nagy (Bradley University), and Marc Street (Salisbury State University).

The heart of our conference continues to be the outstanding academic paper sessions and symposia.  Thanks go to all of those who submitted papers and symposium proposals; who reviewed for the program; and who participated as presenters, session chairs, or discussants.  Our overall acceptance rate continues to be in the range of 50%, so getting on the SMA program is a competitive process. Special thanks go to the outstanding track chairs for 2008: Flavia Cavazotte (IBMEC School of Business-Rio de Janeiro), Lucy Ford (St. Joseph’s University), Lucy Gilson (University of Connecticut), Mary Jo Jackson (University of South Florida St. Petersburg), Nhung Nguyen (Towson University), Matt Rutherford (Virginia Commonwealth University), Bryan Schaffer (University of North Carolina-Ashville), and Paul Schwager (East Carolina University). They recruited reviewers, organized the review process, made acceptance decisions, recruited discussants and session chairs, and formed paper sessions.  Great job!  Finally, I also want to thank Geralyn Franklin (University of South Florida St. Petersburg) for all her work on the local arrangements and Rahul Sawhney of Aquinex Services for his expert management of our database and the on-line submission and review process.

I am pleased to echo Allen Amason’s summary of the 2007 program:  In just about every way, the meeting was a great success.  Certainly it showed the depth and strength of our organization and its membership.  So, to all those mentioned and to all those who participated, thank you.  You are the best of the SMA and I am grateful to you for allowing me to serve as your Program Chair.

Margaret L. (Peg) Williams
2008 SMA Program Chair / 2009 President Elect