In July 2024, dozens of African health experts with accepted talks to a major HIV/AIDS conference in Munich found themselves watching from home as their visas denied by the host country. Around the same time, U.S. government agencies facing new budget cuts outright banned their scientists from traveling to conferences (even on personal time) until an outcry forced a reversal (Source: US NIH reverses conference travel ban for scientists). These incidents underline a stark reality: academic and nonprofit public health conferences are being squeezed by a perfect storm of shrinking travel grants, slashed research funding, and record-high visa restrictions. The stakes are high. If we don’t adapt, we risk conference halls filled only with those privileged enough to afford airfare and visas, and an empty seat where a young scientist from the Global South should have been sitting, sharing insights that could save lives.
Why does Academic Conferences Matter?
Conferences aren’t just academic vacations; they’re where breakthroughs are shared, collaborations spark, and networks that sustain global health are woven. When early-career researchers from low-income countries can’t attend due to financial or bureaucratic barriers, the entire field loses out on their perspectives (Source: Envisaging the future of academic conferences). Unfortunately, today’s economic and political climate has made these barriers higher than ever. Travel funding has dried up. Many universities and nonprofits have slashed conference budgets and grants, leaving participants to pay their own way. Research funding is tighter, meaning fewer sponsorships and leaner events. And visa hurdles are at an all-time high, with Western countries frequently denying entry to scholars from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It’s a cruel irony: at a time when global public health collaboration is desperately needed, it’s never been harder to actually get everyone in the same room.
Yet, across academia and the nonprofit world, innovators are turning these challenges into an opportunity to reinvent the conference model. This article dives into practical strategies and candid insights on how to run academic and public health conferences under these constraints. The goal: help university administrators, event directors, and program managers not only survive this era of tight budgets and tough borders, but come out the other side with more inclusive, resilient ways of sharing knowledge.
The Perfect Storm: Funding Cuts and Visa Hurdles
It’s no secret that money is the lifeblood of academic gatherings. Traditionally, professors and students relied on travel grants and institutional support to present their work abroad. Now, those supports are evaporating. Facing budget shortfalls, universities and agencies have enacted hiring freezes and travel restrictions for staff to curb spending. Conference travel is often the first line item on the chopping block. A U.S. health agency employee noted that under recent federal cuts, they were “banned from nearly all travel,” putting a halt to scientific meetings and trainings. Even some private foundations have pared back sponsorships for conferences, forcing organizers to scale down plans. For young researchers, the situation is especially dire: if your lab can’t pay, you’re not going. One early-career scientist from a developing country shared that he paid around £860 out-of-pocket to attend a single conference in 2019, and had to skip several other meetings entirely because the host countries’ visas were too hard to obtain (Source: Envisaging the future of academic conferences). When attending a conference costs a month’s salary and a maze of paperwork, many simply opt out.
Meanwhile, political tides have turned against easy international mobility. Visa barriers have surged to record levels, and global science is feeling the effects. Major conferences in North America and Europe have seen a wave of visa denials for participants from the Global South. The International AIDS Conference in Montréal 2022 was a flashpoint, where Canadian authorities refused visas for many African delegates (Source: Visa problems ahead of International AIDS Conference in Munich). The pattern tragically repeated for the 2024 AIDS conference in Munich, with invited speakers from Africa unable to attend because their visas were rejected without cause. An analysis in early 2025 described the recurrent denial of visas to African delegates as a “glaring inequality” that keeps those most affected by global health crises out of crucial discussions. In other words, the people who need to be at the table i.e., researchers and community leaders from hard-hit countries, are being locked out by bureaucracy.
Visa issues don’t just hurt the attendees; they hurt the conference. Nothing underscores a failed “international” meeting more than rows of empty chairs where colleagues from abroad should be. Organizers have begun to recognize this. “Conference organizers have an obligation to host meetings in locations that are not visa-hostile,” writes one public health expert, who even helped crowd-source a list of “visa-friendly” venues for global health events. The message is clear: if we want truly global conferences, we must confront the very real political barriers fragmenting our community. And we must do so while money is tight and uncertainty is high. A daunting combo? Absolutely. But as the next sections show, it’s possible to meet these challenges with creativity, tech, and a renewed commitment to our values.
"Nothing about global health is 'global' if half the world can't even get a visa to be in the room."
Embrace Hybrid and Virtual Formats
If there was one silver lining to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s that we learned conferences don’t have to be 100% in-person to succeed. Virtually overnight in 2020, meetings moved online, and many saw record attendance because suddenly anyone with an internet connection could join. Registration fees plummeted and visa worries evaporated. As in-person events return, we’d be foolish to throw away those gains. The hybrid conference, part in-person, part online, is not just a pandemic stopgap; it’s a lifeline for inclusion and resilience.
Case in point: when unpredictable U.S. visa policies threatened to exclude many international scholars, the Society for Social Studies of Science didn’t hesitate. Instead, it shifted its 2025 annual conference to a hybrid model. The organizers publicly acknowledged they “don’t believe it is safe for everyone to travel” under current conditions, so they set up a meeting where anyone uncomfortable or unable to come to the U.S. could participate remotely. As a result, an Australian PhD student who feared border detention was able to present her research via live video rather than not at all. Stories like this illustrate a powerful truth: hybrid formats keep the doors open when physical travel slams them shut.
That said, hybrid conferences only work if we treat virtual attendees as first-class participants. It’s not enough to point a camera at the podium and call it a day. Success requires thoughtful planning so that joining from afar is a rich, interactive experience, and not a glorified YouTube video. Here're some tips and emerging best practices:
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Invest in Tech and Support: Reliable virtual event platforms, good microphones, and technical support are a must. Nothing is more frustrating than a keynote dropping offline or audio cutting out during audience Q&A. Consider hiring a dedicated virtual tech team if budget allows. It pays off when remote panels go off without a hitch.
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Facilitate Two-Way Interaction: Make sure remote attendees can ask questions and be heard. Use moderated chat and dedicated times when online participants get the floor to ask questions. A simple rule: for every audience Q&A, alternate between an in-person question and an online question. This prevents remote viewers from feeling like ghosts in the room.
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Time Zone Diversity: One often-overlooked perk of virtual participation is the ability to engage people across continents, if you plan for it. Schedule key sessions in rotate timing so that someone in Mumbai isn’t asked to watch a 3 A.M. talk! And always record sessions for later viewing. Some conferences even plan virtual networking events at multiple times (morning and evening in the host zone) to give everyone a chance to socialize.
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Virtual Networking and Community: Replicate the hallway conversations and coffee breaks online. This could be as simple as opening a few themed breakout rooms during lunch, or as fun as hosting a “virtual pub quiz” one evening for all attendees. The key is to create informal spaces where people can meet, chat, and form collaborations the same way they would around a poster session.
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Tiered Registration Fees: To encourage online attendance, offer reduced registration for virtual attendees. Since a remote participant isn’t munching on the catering or occupying a physical seat, their marginal cost to the organizers is low. Many organizers waive fees for participants from low-income countries or those presenting virtually. This boosts turnout and is a goodwill gesture that builds loyalty. Conversely, a higher in-person fee can help cover those avocado toast coffee breaks (or better yet, subsidize tech tools).
Make virtual attendance a first-class experience, not an afterthought. It’s worth noting that in the recent NIH travel-ban saga, virtual attendance was the only loophole that allowed U.S. scientists to keep participating in meetings. Not all conferences at the time even had a virtual option, which meant some researchers were simply barred from engaging in their field’s discourse for a month. We can do better. By embracing hybrid formats now, you’re not only expanding your audience, you’re future-proofing your event against everything from visa crackdowns to the next pandemic (knock on wood). It’s the ultimate win-win: more inclusive, and more resilient.
Bring the Conference to the People
If attendees can’t come to the conference, bring the conference to them. Tight budgets and travel barriers are a call to get creative with geography. Instead of anchoring every meeting in the same global capitals, consider a more decentralized approach to conferences. This might mean rotating locations, setting up regional hubs, or even simultaneous multi-site events.
First, let’s talk location choice. The venue for an international conference can make or break who’s able to show up. Conference planners are increasingly rethinking the habit of always convening in pricey, visa-heavy hubs like London, San Francisco, or Geneva. Why not Kigali, Bangkok or Lima? Holding events in countries with lenient visa policies can dramatically increase attendance from underrepresented regions. It’s also a tangible way to signal that the conference truly values global participation, not just as a talking point but in practice. Many prestigious meetings (from AIDS conferences to climate summits) are starting to balance their rotation. For example, alternating between a European host and an African / Asian host city in successive years. Of course, local infrastructure and safety are considerations, but today there are world-class convention facilities in Nairobi, Kuala Lumpur, Cape Town, you name it. As one group of experts urged, we must start choosing venues as if everyone's invitation depended on it. Because in a very real sense, it does (List of Visa-friendly venues for global health meetings).
Early and Proactive Planning
Even with the best venue choices, visas can still be unpredictable. That’s where early and proactive planning helps. Announce conference dates and locations as early as possible; six months or more in advance so as to give attendees ample time to navigate visa processes. Provide official invitation letters, documentation of the event, and contact persons to help with visa applications. Some conferences now employ a “visa troubleshooter” on the organizing team: someone who liaises with immigration authorities, keeps tabs on problematic cases, and communicates with applicants. While you can’t rewrite a country’s laws, you can at least equip your participants with the paperwork and guidance they need. If despite best efforts certain key attendees are denied entry at the last minute, have a backup plan (e.g. switching their presentation to virtual). Agility is the name of the game.
Another approach gaining traction is the multi-hub conference. Instead of one giant meeting, you have several smaller gatherings in different locations, all connected via technology. For example, imagine a global health conference where groups convene in Nairobi, Delhi, London, and Bogotá simultaneously. Each site hosts local panels and workshops, while keynote sessions are broadcast across all venues. Attendees get the benefit of some face-to-face networking in their region without the cost and hassle of intercontinental travel, and the whole network of hubs still shares a unified agenda. This isn’t just theoretical as models like this have been piloted, and studies indicate that a hub approach can cut travel costs and carbon emissions drastically while retaining much of the in-person experience. Read this article from Nature about trend towards virtual and hybrid conferences becoming an effective climate change mitigation strategy. It’s also a natural fit when funding is limited: rather than fly 100 people to one place, fly 5 speakers to each of 5 hubs and reach the same 100 people locally.
"A 'global' conference that only welcomes certain passports isn't truly global."
The bottom line is, decentralizing conferences can broaden participation in ways that the old single-site model simply can’t. Yes, it requires coordination and maybe a mindset shift as you might be coordinating five mini-conferences instead of one but the payoff is more voices in the conversation. In the end, the purpose of a conference is to share knowledge and foster collaboration. That mission can be fulfilled in many formats. Whether it’s hybrid or multi-hub or rotating regional meetings, the guiding principle is the same: go to where the people are, instead of expecting all the people to come to you. In an era of travel austerity, that might be the difference between a conference that thrives and one that fizzles.
Doing More with Less: Creative Budgeting and Partnerships
Lack of money doesn’t have to defeat your conference’s goals. Tight budgets can even be a catalyst for smarter, more community-focused events. Here are some strategies to stretch your dollars without sacrificing the quality of the conference experience:
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Leverage Low-Cost Venues: Skip the five-star hotel ballroom and look at universities, public libraries, and community centers as venues. Many universities will offer auditoriums for academic events at little cost, especially if a department on campus is a co-sponsor. Likewise, civic buildings or even coworking spaces might be available for a donation. One advantage of the academic/nonprofit world is that people are less concerned with glitz as they’d rather see funds go into travel scholarships and better content than fancy venue fees.
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Partner Up: Consider co-hosting your conference with another organization or aligning it with a larger event. For example, if there’s a big international public health symposium in the region, schedule your smaller conference just before or after it and share some facilities and AV equipment. You might even coordinate to let attendees of one get a discount to attend the other. Partnerships can also mean shared sponsorship pools eg., two organizations can jointly approach a donor to fund a conference, doubling your appeal. Donors are often more willing to support collaborative efforts that promise broader impact.
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Tiered Pricing and Solidarity Funds: We touched on charging different rates for virtual vs. in-person. You can take the tiered model further by adjusting fees based on country income levels. It’s common practice now for big conferences to have a high-income country rate vs. low-income country rate, and a corporate rate vs. student rate. Don’t be shy about charging well-funded attendees a bit more; many will gladly pay if they know it’s helping subsidize a colleague from a less-privileged background. Explicitly create a “solidarity fund” from a portion of registration revenues. Then advertise that and use it to offer travel grants to those who can’t pay. Even if overall funding is down, redistributing resources this way makes the most of what you have.
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Trim the Extras, Keep the Essentials: Take a hard look at every budget item and ask, “Does this help people learn, connect, or share?” If not, it might be a candidate for trimming. Maybe it’s not crucial to have a catered hot lunch every day as coffee/tea and a simple snack could suffice, or attendees can grab lunch on their own dime. Do we need printed programs, or will a mobile app and PDF suffice? Many conferences have gone paperless, saving on printing costs and aligning with sustainability. Likewise, instead of swag bags full of branded tchotchkes, you could provide a simple digital resource list. Attendees might not remember the logo pen you gave them, but they’ll remember an extra networking reception. So prioritize budget for things that enhance engagement. Cut the fluff, keep the substance, and your budget (and attendees) will thank you.
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Embrace Virtual Content to Save Costs: A hybrid model can reduce costs for organizers too. If a prominent speaker can’t be flown in, consider having them present via video call. You save travel and accommodation expenses. Poster sessions can be done via an online platform, saving printing costs (and giving presenters from afar a chance to participate without traveling). Some conferences are now hosting certain sessions completely online, which allows them to shorten the expensive in-person portion. Every day for which you don’t have to rent a venue and pay for catering, is money saved.
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Volunteer Power: Tap into the enthusiasm of students and community members. Offer free or discounted registration to volunteers who help with check-ins, tech support, moderating chat rooms, and documenting sessions. Not only does this save on staffing costs, it also gives invaluable experience to students and helps build the next generation of conference organizers. A well-trained volunteer squad can often handle tasks that you’d otherwise pay professional event staff for.
In tough times, frugality and quality can go hand in hand. By focusing spending on what truly matters and enabling participants to attend and share knowledge, you uphold the conference’s mission even with lean resources. Many organizers find that when they explain budget-conscious moves in the context of “so we could offer 50 extra virtual scholarships”, attendees are overwhelmingly supportive. You don’t need a luxury hotel to host a meaningful, memorable conference. What people cherish are the ideas exchanged and connections made. Everything else is icing on the cake, and in lean times, you can afford to scrape off a little icing.
Toward a More Inclusive Conference Culture
Stepping back, it’s clear that the current challenges are forcing academia and the nonprofit sector to confront long-standing inequities. The truth is, even in the “best” of times, many talented individuals were shut out of conferences due to cost or visas or caregiving responsibilities. The pandemic and funding crises just threw this into stark relief. Now we have a chance, indeed an obligation, to reimagine conferences in a more inclusive mold for the long term.
This means that the adaptations we’ve discussed shouldn’t be seen as temporary fixes until things “get back to normal.” In all likelihood, this is the new normal. And that might not be a bad thing. If we institutionalize hybrid attendance, thoughtful venue selection, and budget practices that prioritize access, then when travel grants and research funding eventually recover, we’ll have the best of both worlds: ample resources and an inclusive framework. Imagine a future where a conference automatically has robust online participation, where no presenter has to cancel because of a visa delay, and where diversity of voices is a given, not a constant struggle. Many in the community are already envisioning exactly that future; one where no conference is entirely in-person, and all major meetings are either hybrid or even fully virtual to some degree, by design.
Of course, broader systemic issues need solutions beyond individual conferences. We should continue to advocate for governments to ease draconian visa policies for academic exchanges, and for institutions to recognize the importance of funding knowledge sharing (not just knowledge production). But while those battles play out, conference organizers can lead by example. Every time you choose an inclusive path, be it giving an early-career researcher a platform through a travel scholarship, or pushing an academic society to hold its meeting in a visa-friendly country, you’re nudging the culture toward equity. You’re saying we won’t accept a status quo where only those with certain passports and fat pockets get to participate in the global dialogue.
"When everyone has a seat at the table, even if it's a virtual seat, the whole field advances."
In the end, running an academic or public health conference in 2025 requires equal dose of pragmatism and idealism. Pragmatism, to navigate the logistical challenges and make hard choices about budgets and formats. Idealism, to uphold the principle that knowledge should be shared as widely and freely as possible. The good news is these can go hand in hand: the very strategies that save money and bypass visas also tend to make conferences more accessible and sustainable. For instance, cutting back on long-haul flights through hybrid models isn’t just inclusive, it massively reduces carbon emissions, a major win for planetary health. By embracing these strategies, you’re not just reacting to the times, you’re actively shaping a better conference model for the future.
To University Administrators, and Nonprofit Program Managers
You have the power to make conferences places where diversity, collaboration, and innovation flourish despite external constraints. It may not be easy as there will be bumps as we perfect virtual platforms or juggle multi-city events but it will be worth it. Because the alternative is a retreat into silos and echoes of the same voices, and that’s not what public health stands for.
Tight travel grants, lean budgets, and visa walls are formidable challenges, no doubt. But by rethinking how we convene, we can ensure that no researcher, student, or community leader is left behind. The solutions are already bubbling up around us in experiments and bold moves by various organizations. Now is the time to take these lessons to heart and mainstream them. Academic and nonprofit conferences can remain vibrant engines of knowledge. We just have to run them differently, with inclusion and creativity leading the way.
Empowerment through adaptation: that’s the path forward for conferences in these turbulent times. By keeping our doors open (literally and virtually) and our minds open to new approaches, we ensure that the vital work of sharing research and ideas carries on, no matter what. And perhaps, when history looks back at this period of “reduced travel and record visa restrictions,” it will also see it as the moment we transformed academic gatherings for the better. More inclusive, more innovative, and more impactful than ever before.