Our host cities, San Diego, California, and Tijuana, Mexico, provide the perfect site for this bi-national conference. These two cities share the busiest land border in the Western Hemisphere, with over 150,000 pedestrians and passenger vehicles crossing daily. Tijuana has become one of the most visited cities in the world, known for nightclubs, restaurants, beaches, and the famous Caesar Salad. San Diego is known for its cultural heritage sites, richly diverse neighborhoods, and an abundance of craft breweries. While there are barriers, both physical and governmental, this region is interconnected by a shared cultural and environmental ecosystem. Did you know: 1 in 4 people in Tijuana speak English and half of the San Diego population speaks Spanish?

The diversity of the area encompasses the Kumeyaay people and Chicanas/os whose lineage in the area goes back six generations (or more) to communities who trace their origins to places all over the globe. Some of the diverse communities in the San Diego area also include: the Filipino community numbering more than 200,000, one of the largest populations of Iraqis outside of Iraq, the Sudanese community, and military service members from multiple branches. This region understands how to build consensus and work across divides of various kinds.

This year’s conference will be hosted by San Diego State University, the oldest higher education system in San Diego which continues to make a significant impact on the region; the Old Globe Theatre, a Tony-Award winning theatre in its ninetieth year, located in historic Balboa Park which features eighteen museums as well as the San Diego Zoo; and Centro Cultural Tijuana (CECUT), an essential part of artistic life in Tijuana, including presentations of work from 16 states of the Mexican Republic and more than 19 countries around the world.

LMDA strives to create fully accessible programming at all of our events and gatherings. If you have accessibility needs that have not yet been addressed, please reach out to our Accessibility Coordinator at accessibility@lmda.org so that we can ensure your needs are met at the conference.

The only meal included with full conference registration is Saturday evening’s banquet at the Mingei Museum in Balboa Park. However, there are plenty of places nearby to grab a bite to eat throughout the conference on both sides of the border. Check out this resources page. (link or include info from things to do)

If you purchased a regional lunch with your registration, volunteers will direct you where to go on Friday afternoon at CECUT. If you didn’t pre-purchase a regional lunch in advance, you can do so at the Information Desk for $15-20. (as supplies last)

LMDA has had great success using Slack as a communication platform for the membership and we are happy to provide a Slack channel specifically for keeping in touch before, during and after your time at the 2025 conference.

We hope that Slack can be a useful tool for conference registrants to receive conference announcements as well as communicate with one another about ancillary activities like carpooling/ridesharing, tourist activities, photo sharing, and emergent events.

As a member benefit, you should have received information on joining our Slack channel in the welcome letter you received when purchasing or renewing your membership. If you did not receive the letter or have questions about our Slack community, you can contact Heather Helinsky, LMDA's VP of Membership, at membership@lmda.org.

Volunteers are expected to work a major portion of all three days. 

• Registration fees are waived for those who volunteer. You are responsible for paying for travel and room/board as well as a reduced closing banquet dinner charge of $25, should you want to attend.
• We try to assign volunteers to rooms/panels they want to see, but there is no guarantee. Plus, some shifts require working at the registration table, which means missing an entire session. 

If this interests you, please contact Danielle Ward at conferencecoordinator@lmda.org. She will add you to the list of potential volunteers and let you know more as we get closer to the date.