An anonymous commenter on the previous thread reminds us of this unbelievable episode:
For me, the all-time classic APA moment came a couple of years ago when they held the Pacific in Vancouver. The idiots came all the way from Delaware to collect their fees (well, some of them actually came from Delaware), but they neglected to work out a way to accept Canadian money. Even though it was, you know, in Canada and all that. [....]
So, since understanding the details of an exchange rate -- or having someone else determine what the three fees would come to in Canadian dollars and writing them up for the fucktards behind the desk -- was too much for them, they just straight-up demanded that anyone paying cash go out and find US currency somewhere (at the dismal rates of exchange one finds at currency exchanges for tourists) so that we could attend the APA in our own city.
Beyond the stupidity of the whole thing, I was particularly impressed by the stubborn-headedness exhibited by those behind the desk who just calmly repeated to the throngs of people who threatened the APA with legal action, etc. that it's an American organization so it makes sense that it should only accept American currency from Canadians while it does business in Canada.
26 comments:
Eastern, first night: Long lines for those who pre-registered while no line for those who had the good sense to register on-site. Pre-registered people turned away from the empty on-site station, told to get on long line. APA: punish those who gave their money early
Somehow my password changed without notice just before the Oct JFP came out online. Took a week to get it sorted.
Turns out that with just one week before the deadline for submitting ads for the Oct. 2011 JFP, the system for online submission of ads is down and the APA has no idea if or when it'll be back. Unclear whether there will be an Oct. 2011 JFP. Remarkable.
Also, the Summer web ads that had been updating regularly as of yesterday (when I last looked at them) are now missing from the section where one is supposed to find them. How about, instead of a petition, we simply rise up with torches and machetes and destroy the incompetent fools who are in charge of this boondoggle?
The Summer Web Ads are back. The bloody coup of the APA has been temporarily postponed.
What about that section "call for papers" for conferences? That section is not on the APA site anymore. What sort of Professional Association does not have a "call for papers" section? Bonus: the lay-out of the conference section is decidedly 1991.
Days before Pacific deadline, tried to submit a paper. Login info not recognized. Email address not recognized. Current with dues. Emailed appropriate entity. Message bounces back; appropriate entity is away until deadline date. But message can be passed along to other appropriate entities. So it is. Twice. And the deadline is extended for Irene, so all seems well. Deadline passes with no response. None. Still none. Isn't the ability to submit papers about the only thing I get for my dues?
Word verification: stemed. It's like being steamed and stymied but it's for those short on time.
I too haven't been able to find the/a CFP section, and had to submit my Pacific paper multiple times over multiple weeks before the links worked at all.
What's astonishing to me is that the current website, even if it were to be fully functional, is actually a step backwards from the previous one. Oh, I'm sure it uses some technology that, while still embarrassingly obsolete, is more advanced than that employed at the old site - nonetheless, the designers seem to have fallen victim to the idea that better tech = better site. It does not. The old site was bad, but this one is abominable. It has a byzantine lay-out and an eye-assaulting color scheme - oh, yeah, and it's STILL technologically backwards. So it seems the APA's response to all our cries about the outdated and awful old site was to give us a new site that is still outdated and awful but which also lacks even the modicum of organizational logic that existed in the old site. WHO ARE THESE MORONS? AND WHY ARE THEY ALLOWED TO RUN ANYTHING?
On the other hand, I just got an acceptance to the Pacific. They managed that with remarkable speed, no?
Here is a serious suggestion: why not start a rival to the APA?
You mean like SPEP?
Hopefully NOTHING like SPEP.
@12:11am, does that early acceptance seem at all suspicious to you?
I got one too and I'm at .5 credence it's a computer error!
@6:56 AM : I share your suspicion. It seems like we got these acceptances at just about the time we might have expected our papers to be sent to reviewers.
And you know you've got a fucked up organization when an efficient reviewing process and a computer error are thought equally likely explanations for that organization's quick review response.
Love the APA! They just sent an email to those who submitted to Pacific saying: We're opening back up the submission site for two days so you can fix all the mistakes you made in submitting (Note: All those mistakes were caused by your dumb website, assholes!), AND if you submitted a graduate student in good standing letter to the website as we requested, you have to DELETE it and FAX IT to us instead during that 48-hour period--because it turns out we don't know how to protect your anonymity otherwise. Inconvenience and irritation aside--isn't there something deeply wrong here, given that they have already ACCEPTED some papers?
Oh, and they also didn't bother to bcc the email addresses of all the people they were sending it to...
Seriously. How do these people even manage to keep themselves alive?
@6:56 AM: What's your credence now?
Wait--people who submitted to Pacific have gotten both faux-accepted already AND asked to resubmit because their submissions didn't go through? I submitted and haven't gotten either notice. Should I fear that my paper has been simultaneously rejected and permanently lost in the submission process?
6:56am here: I emailed the Pacific program cte. chair after I got the email urging me to make sure my submission was complete. My acceptance is real.
I say we take off and nuke the site from orbit. Its the only way to be sure.
The saga continues. After the "resubmit, you loser who couldn't use our obviously perfect website" letter, received this:
*RETRACTION * IMPORTANT: Notice for Your APA PACIFIC PAPER SUBMISSION
Dear APA Member:
Please disregard the prior email you received requesting changes to be
made to your APA Pacific Division paper submission if you have not
already made changes. The APA National Office will contact you if
additional information or changes is required. We apologize for any
confusion this has caused.
I'm experiencing Academic Organization envy. Because I'm a cranky old jerk, I share... Economists have a working website, the American Economic Association, and they don't lock their job ads behind a membership pay wall (Job Openings for Economists, and, sensitive to market conditions, members voted to *lower* their for 2012. Lower = $20 - $40.
ARGHHHHHHH.....
^^^ Lower fees (sorry)
I thought, sure, 729 a.k.a. (cranky economist envier) looks at econ, but we should look at comparatively wee and poor brethren like the AAR (American Academy of Religion) site:
http://www.aarweb.org/Programs/Career_Services/Job_Postings/current.asp
No pay wall on job listings, which are sensibly listed alphabetically. Clear registration for next con on the home page. My hosejob sense is tingling!
Quite worthwhile info, thank you for the article.
Post a Comment