Conferences are good place for papers by young people. Proceedings are the most important part and best way to attract attention and members. Back to venue for conference as focus. North Carolina worked well with lots of good submissions. There is now pent up demand for an event for paper presentations.
Proceedings become pre-selection as full papers are required from the start.
It was good for students. Variety possible because annual event and not every one can produce annually. At research roundtable possible to discover others with similar ideas and interests. ARCC role has been amorphous over time. Great value to members to find out who doing what.