The primary activity of AMTA is the annual symposium, which includes a business meeting. The symposium is generally one full week, usually held in October or November of each year, and attracts some 500 attendees. Tours of local measurement facilities are arranged and are generally conducted on the last day of the symposium week. Each year approximately 70 to 100 papers are presented and distributed at the symposium in the form of a CD; print copies are also available. At the symposium, exhibitors show their latest offerings in hardware, systems, and/or services.

In addition to the annual symposium and exhibition, AMTA holds a smaller, regional colloquium and exhibition each year.  Often called a “tabletop” show, this event typically attracts some 60-80 people from the local area, many of whom cannot attend the annual AMTA symposium whether due to time constraints in being away from the office for a full week, or budget issues that do not allow extensive travel.  The tabletop shows are the perfect US outreach forum for AMTA.  Recent tabletop shows were held in Tucson, Arizona (2005) and Denver, Colorado (2006).

AMTA outreaches internationally as well.  Typically, AMTA partners with another, related organization or organizes its own conference.  These events alternate yearly between Europe and Asia.  For example, in 2005, AMTA held a conference in Hong Kong.  In 2006, AMTA held a conference in Munich, Germany, and also partnered with the EuCAP organization at their conference in Nice, France.

For the US based AMTA Annual Meeting and Symposium, companies are invited to “Host” the event, meaning they work with AMTA’s contracted conference management firm to organize the event in their city.  Proposals are made by the potential host entity to the AMTA Board of Directors.  Currently, AMTA is seeking host proposals for the year 2010 and beyond.

Companies or institutions interested in hosting a future AMTA Annual Meeting and Symposium should contact the AMTA Meeting Coordinator at meeting-coordinator@amta.org.