摘要：University facultyand staff regularly participate in academic conferences as part of their professional responsibilities, yet the literature on their valueis scarce, especially when examining conferencesheld jointly by two associations.Research is needed to help association leaders, planning committees,and attendees make informed decisionsabout conference organization and participation. This paper highlights the benefits and challenges of a jointlyheld academic conference forparticipants, association leaders, and organizational liaisons. In June of 2016, two Cooperative Extension associations, the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals (NACDEP) and the Association of Natural ResourceExtension Professionals(ANREP),jointly held aconference in Burlington, VT.The authorsused surveys administered to conference participants, planning committee members, and liaisons at the United States Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)to collect data immediately following the conference and six months later.Using the CommunityCapitalsFramework(CCF)to organize evaluation results, the authorsdiscuss the benefits and challenges of planning, sponsoring, and attending the conference from theperspectivesof these different groups. The authors focus on threecommunity capitals: human capital, social capital, and cultural capital. Based on the findings, theyoffer recommendations for future evaluation of jointlyheldacademicconferences.
