Frequently Asked Questions

General
How do I update my contact information?
I'm having trouble logging in to the website. I entered my User ID and Password, but I'm still not able to log in.
I want to submit a paper to the SEJ. When is the deadline to submit papers, and how much is the submission fee?

Conference Papers and Sessions
How do I submit a paper on the SEA website?
Do I have to submit my finished paper right now?
How long should my abstract submission be, and what are the file specifications?
Do I have to be a member of the SEA to submit a paper for the conference?
Do you publish papers that are presented at the conference?
How do I submit a complete session?
How do I view contact information for participants in my session(s)?
Will my contact information be available to the public from the conference program?
Do I have to bring my own laptop for my powerpoint presentation? Is an overhead projector available?

Conference Registration and Hotel
How do I register for the Conference?
Why can't I register for the conference at the member rate? I just purchased a membership through Member Services.
I am a student who paid the abstract submission fee. How do I get my conference registration fee waived?
Is your credit card payment page for conference registration secure?
Why don't you take all credit cards?
Why do you insist that participants wear name badges? I was stopped by your security personnel who asked to see mine.
I want to bring my spouse/friend/child/significant other to the conference only to sit in on my paper session. They will not be presenting or actually participating in the conference. Do I have to register that individual?
That's the conference rate for the hotel? I paid a lot less at the ASSA meetings!
Why can't you refer me to a cheaper hotel?

How do I update my contact information?
You will need to update both the SEA Conference Website and the Member Services Directory. The Southern Economic Journal is mailed to the address on file in the SEA Member Directory.

To update your information on the SEA Conference Website, please select the SEA Conferences link located in the red menu on the left side of the screen. Then select "Meetings Log in" from the SEA Conferences Webpage detail selections. You will need your email address and your SEA conference password. If you do not have an SEA Conference password, please select the "Click Here" in the sentence, "If you have not yet received a password for the Southern Economic Association website, click here" (located directly below the email and pasword entry fields). If you have a password, but forgot it, please select the "Forgot Password" link located in the SEA Conferences Webpage detail selections on the left side of the screen. After logging in to the SEA Conferences Webpage, please select the "My Info" link located in the SEA Conferences Webpage detail selections. Your contact information will be displayed for your review. Click "Edit This Information" to make corrections.

To update your information in the SEA Membership Directory, please visit www.southerneconomic.org and select the Member Services link (located in the green menu, directly below the website header). Your member login is your membership number, and the default password is your last name.

I'm having trouble logging in to the website. I entered my User ID and Password, but I'm still not able to log in.
Cookies must be enabled on your computer to login to the SEA website. To confirm that your computer is set to allow cookies, please use the instructions listed for your browser and operating system.

Internet Explorer:
Open your internet browser and click "Tools" on the browser menu bar at the top of your screen. In the "Tools" menu, please select "Internet Options". Then click on the "Privacy" tab and "Advanced". In the "Advanced" options, please select "Override automatic cookie handling" at the top of the window and "Always allow session cookies" underneath. Click "OK" twice to exit the menu. Close and reopen your browser.

Safari:
From the menu bar, select "Safari." Then click "Preferences," "Privacy," "Block cookies." Then select, "From third parties and advertisers."

Chrome (Windows):
Select the wrench box at the top right corner of the page menu area. Select "Settings." This will open a Chrome Settings webpage. At the bottom of the webpage, select the link, "Show advanced settings." Under "Privacy," select the "Content settings..." box. Under "Cookies," select "Allow local data to be set." Select "OK" at the bottom right corner of the Content settings.

Chrome (Mac):
From the menu bar, select "Chrome," "Preferences." This will open another browser tab with the Chrome Settings webpage. At the bottom of the webpage, select the link, "Show advanced settings." Under "Privacy," select the "Content settings..." box. Under "Cookies," select "Allow local data to be set." Select "OK" at the bottom right corner of the Content settings.

Mozilla Firefox (Windows):
Select the "Firefox" tab at the top left of the browser window. Select "Options," "Privacy." No selection as Firefox keeps cookies unless you remove them at this option page.

Mozilla Firefox (Mac):
From the menu bar, select "Firefox," "Preferences," "Privacy." Check "Accept cookies from sites."

Also, the SEA Conference website is a masked website, which has caused some participants, with high levels of internet security, difficulty. The unmasked address that follows may be copied and pasted into your web browser: http://www.etnpconferences.net/sea/sea2013/

If you still experience difficulty, please contact our office at sea@utc.edu.

I want to submit a paper to the SEJ. When is the deadline to submit papers, and how much is the submission fee?
Submissions are accepted year round. Submission fees are $60 for SEA members and $125 for nonmembers residing in the United States. The submission fee for Canadian submitters is $135 and for all other submitters, $140. There is no fee for resubmission.

How do I submit a paper on the SEA website?
You may submit a paper by clicking the "SEA Conferences" link on the left side of the SEA homepage. Then click the "Submit a Paper" link located in the center of the page. You should then be able to enter your paper information and abstract by following the onscreen instructions. You can also enter your credit card submission fee payment during this process. For further reference, view the full paper submission instructions by clicking here.

Do I have to submit my finished paper right now?
No. You may submit an abstract of your research. The full paper is not required until 30 days prior to the conference.

How long should my abstract submission be, and what are the file specifications?
The SEA does not specify a word limit for abstract submissions. The file to be uploaded should be 20 MB or less and in either PDF or .doc format. Please note the SEA Submission process does not accept .docx files.

Do I have to be a member of the SEA to submit a paper for the conference?
No. However, you will have to register for the conference and pay the registration fee in order to attend and present your paper.

Do you publish papers that are presented at the conference?
No. If you wish to have your paper considered for publication in the Southern Economic Journal, please visit the SEJ page for more information by clicking the Journal link at the top of the page.

How do I submit a complete session?
Complete sessions may be entered online at www.southerneconomic.org. However, for control purposes, the SEA Conference website requires our office to grant access to the conference session submission function on an individual basis. To receive access to enter a complete session, please email our office with your name, affiliation, and email address. We will gladly grant you track chair status as well as send you the SEA Conference complete session submission instructions. Administrative privileges are password specific and will enable you to submit and edit your sessions only. The deadline for session submissions is April 1, 2013.

How do I view contact information for participants in my session(s)?
You must be logged in to the conference website to access participant contact information. To access participant information, please select the SEA Conferences link from the red menu located on the left of the SEA Website. Then select "Meetings Log in" from the SEA Conferences Webpage detail selections. You will need your email address and your SEA conference password to log-in to the system. If you have not received an SEA Conference password, please select the "Click Here" in the sentence "If you have not yet received a password for the Southern Economic Association website, click here" (located directly below the email and password entry fields). If an SEA Conference password has been assigned, but was forgotten, please select the "Forgot Password" link located in the SEA Conference Webpage detail selections on the left side of the screen.

Once you have logged-in to the SEA Conference Webpage, select "2013 Annual Meetings" from the red menu located on the left side of the page. Then select the "Program Participants" link in the center of the page. You may then select your name from the participant list to view your sessions. Participant contact information is available by clicking each participant's name in the session details.

Will my contact information be available to the public from the conference program?
No. Starting with the 2009 program, online access to contact information was restricted to logged-in program administrators, SEA members, conference participants and registrants. The text of the contact information will not reside on any static pages that can be "harvested" by web-crawlers.

Do I have to bring my own laptop for my powerpoint presentation? Is an overhead projector available?
Session participants are responsible for providing their own laptop for use in concurrent meetings. Each meeting room will be equipped with an LCD projector. Overhead projectors will not be provided.

How do I register for the conference?
To register online, please visit the SEA Website at www.southerneconomic.org and select the SEA Conferences link from the red menu located on the left side of the SEA Website. Then select "Meetings Log in" from the SEA Conferences Webpage detail selections. You will need your email address and your SEA conference password. If you do not have an SEA Conference password, please select the "Click Here" in the sentence, "If you have not yet received a password for the Southern Economic Association website, click here" (located directly below the email and password entry fields). If you have a password, but forgot it, please select the "Forgot Password" link located in the SEA Conferences Webpage detail selections on the left side of the screen. After you log in to the SEA Conferences Website, please select "Conference Registration" located in the red menu below the SEA Conferences link.

Why can't I register for the conference at the member rate? I just purchased a membership through Member Services.
The SEA Member Services website and the SEA Conference website are maintained separately. Our office encourages individuals interested in attending the annual conference to renew or purchase memberships when they register for the conference, which updates the SEA Conference Website immediately. Please allow 5-10 business days for your membership renewal to post to the SEA Conference Website database.

I am a student who paid the abstract submission fee. How do I get my conference registration fee waived?
The SEA will waive the conference registration fee for graduate student members who submit a paper and pay the submission fee. However, the student must still register for the SEA conference. During the registration process, please select the Abstract Paid Student registration. The SEA office will then, after verifying your abstract payment and membership, waive your conference registration fee. Please note, you must be a member of the SEA and provide a copy of your valid student ID upon checking in at the conference registration desk.

Is your credit card payment page for conference registration secure?
Yes. Your credit card payment is processed on a secure site. If you went to the SEA conference pages through the SEA URL "www.southerneconomic.org," the subsequent true URLs, or page addresses, are "masked." If you go to the SEA conference site through "http://www.etnpconferences.net/sea/sea2013" you will see that the credit card processing pages does begin with "https" and there is a lock image to show security.

Why don’t you take all credit cards?
It’s too expensive. Additional cards, beyond what we accept, would incur an extra monthly charge on top of what we already pay to have the ability to process charges. The Association, as economists, attempts to minimize costs.

Why do you insist that participants wear name badges? I was stopped by your security personnel who asked to see mine.
Security and costs have become very serious matters since 2001. Hotels have stepped up their security and all professional associations are trying to more accurately control their costs. As an economist, one can also see it as a response to the free rider problem. As long as conference revenues are what make the Journal and the annual conference possible, we must try to minimize that problem.

I want to bring my spouse / friend / child / significant other to the conference only to sit in on my paper session. They will not be presenting or actually participating in the conference. Do I have to register that individual?
Yes. In order to control costs, deal with the free rider problem, and provide the required security for the conference, SEA policy requires any individual attending any session of the conference in any capacity to register and pay the appropriate conference registration fee.

That's the conference rate for the hotel? I paid a lot less at the ASSA meetings!
The conference hotel rates we are quoted depend on the specific dates we need, the occupancy rates of the hotel on those dates, and the number of rooms we commit that our participants will purchase over the days of the conference. The ASSA brings the hotels it contracts for, between 8000 and 10,000 room night bookings. The SEA has more like 1,000. As a result of the time of the year, i.e. Thanksgiving as opposed to immediately following Christmas, hotel occupancy rates are higher and the vastly smaller number of rooms we contract for, we, and almost all other professional associations, pay significantly higher rates. The room rates that we pay also pay for the conference meeting room space utilized by the various academic paper sessions.

Why can't you refer me to a cheaper hotel?
Our contracts with the hotels include a sliding scale on the cost of the meeting rooms we reserve for the conference sessions. The scale is based on how many room nights are booked by participants in our conference. The more participants who stay at the hotel, the less the meeting space costs the Association. It would therefore be against the Association's interest to refer participants to stay elsewhere. We do try to negotiate the best rates we can for a conference our size, at the time of year, and in the locations that members seem to prefer.