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Initial emails from Richard
These are the first emails from Richard to the AIR executive.
From: Richard Smith <smith@sfu.ca>
Date: March 9, 2006 3:41:18 AM EST (CA)
To: "Matthew Allen" <M.Allen@exchange.curtin.edu.au>
Cc: "Charles Ess" <cmess@drury.edu>
Subject: Re: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007 (further comments)
Thanks, Matthew. I have done up a revised proposal based on these and the previous suggestions. I am glad you don't think the 400 might swell to 500 - but I have a contingency plan for them...
One concern - you mention 4 parallel sessions. I have booked rooms for 8 parallel sessions. And have three of these parallel session blocks each day. Is that not what we had in Chicago?
I seem to remember a lot more than 4 rooms going at once. Do you perhaps mean the number of these blocks of parallels in a day? Which could be four, if I trim the keynotes/plenaries or go later, as you suggest.
If we have 3 of these 'parallel session blocks' with 8 rooms running at once and 4 people in each 1.5 hr block, then we have 3*8*4 per day and three days... == 288 possible paper presentations. Add in the plenaries and the keynotes and the (few) people who will come and NOT present a paper and you have the 350-400 attendees.
...r
On 8-Mar-06, at 11:48 PM, Matthew Allen wrote:
Hi Richard
One final email from me, since I am seeing really good things in the
comments you are making
It is not possible to cap numbers, really - it would go against the
grain of AoIR and would be an issue if we did it officially. However,
I'd be surprised if you had more than 400 in attendance. We had 415
officially (ie registrations) in Toronto, but I know for a fact that
most keynotes only had around 300 people in them; moreover, at any one
time, there didn't seem to be 400 warm bodies all in the one place. I'd
reckon 400 is the likely maximum attendance; assume I am wrong and we
get 450, then that would translate into maybe 400? Actually there at any
one time. The keynotes would be ok at 350. Of course, it's always
within our power should we get some huge blowout in numbers to close
registrations. There's actually a very close parallel between the number
of papers accepted and the number of attendees - historically it's about
25% more. Therefore, we could constrain the numbers by making sure that,
say, only 250 papers were accepted and then add 50 to that; perhaps add
a few more cos Vancouver is going to be a popular spot for people to
visit and you will hit 350. Anyways, the final decision can be made
when you see what is submitted :). I don't think too many people will be
the issue - hell, we usually worry about too few *grin*.
Keynote speakers are completely about negotiation. As you surmise, you
and the program chair and others put your heads together, sort out some
names and then get approval. We rarely DON'T approve someone - it's more
a safety thing about costs. Not all our conference organisers have been
as careful and experienced as you :).
Your close personal and institutional links into the venue are making me
feel extra-enthusiastic about this. Most of the problems in prior
conferences have concerned the hotel and misunderstandings / ripoffs.
OTOH, we had terrible trouble at Sussex with the university who wanted
to charge us for unused accommodation in the campus dorms!
I am sure you will get sponsors - the economics of the conference are
such that, on a $50,000 basic cost, even $5000 is good and $10000 would
be more than sufficient.
I can confirm that Wednesday workshops / arrival, Thu-Sat conference is
good. Don't schedule Sunday morning and, in all probability, can the
breakfast on Sunday am - it lost money in Toronto and was going to lose
in Chicago until we cancelled. You'd be better to have a bigger
reception (sponsored by someone :) on the Wed evening.
Don't forget too pre-conference workshops and other events are your baby
- on the Wednesday. AoIR tends to be more hands off about such things as
long as there is no financial issues involved.
I'd plan on a conference day from 8.30 - 18.00 for budgetting purposes,
probably with 4 parallel sessions and 1 plenary/keynote. Usually we have
the dinner on the Friday night, and hold the AoIR AGM between the end of
the day and the start of the dinner. Agm would need a room ca 150 ppl.
Finally, I think you and I are on the same page regarding governance and
organisation. Tell you what, you can email axel bruns who is this year's
local conference chair and ask him what it's like. He might also be able
to provide some additional info. A.bruns@qut.edu.au. Further, I want to
say that Charles was appointed by the Exec to be the gobetween from
Association to the successful bidder (which may or may not be you,
but...it is looking great!) and he is really outstanding for that
work... I foresee no issues - just productive dialogue.
(Does it sound like I want to go to Vancouver *laugh*)
Gnight!
Dr Matthew Allen
Associate Professor in Internet Studies
President Association of Internet Researchers
Faculty of Media Society and Culture
Curtin University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
http://smi.curtin.edu.au/NetStudies/allen.htm
+61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 92663166 (f)
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Smith [mailto:smith@sfu.ca]
Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 2:16 PM
To: Matthew Allen
Cc: Charles Ess
Subject: Re: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007 (further comments)
I wonder what you think about "capping" the numbers - I am concerned
that we might get overly popular and have too many people... I have some
ideas about expansion, but I'd rather keep it to 400.
I am quite happy to negotiate the keynotes or whatever - if I am not
comfortable with the direction things are heading, I will push back but
generally I am either of a similar mind to you (based on our
conversation in Chicago) or can be persuaded to adjust.
I won't be out of pocket, don't worry about that! One of the benefits of
avoiding the whole hotel nonsense is a much more civil negotiation
process and as I have worked in the harbour centre building for almost
15 years I have a lot of personal / social capital that I can draw upon
to make this thing come off well.
I am quite optimistic that we can raise some sponsorship money and make
this a memorable and fun event.
...r
On 8-Mar-06, at 9:53 PM, Matthew Allen wrote:
That's good then :). Hell, if people are late to the keynote serve
them right - they can stand at the back!
On some of the other issues - ie keynote speakers - that's a good
example (the costs) of how the AoIR conference organisational approach
might differ from what you are used to. My fundamental position on
conference organisation is that there is no single 'right' way to do
it, so long as the conference organisers, program chair, and AoIR all
work collaboratively towards the common goal and in doing so are
absolutely clear on not assuming 'how things should be'.
As an example of one of those assumptions - the legal arrangements for
the conference should be between AoIR and the venue, not between you
or SFU. We don't want to expose you to any liability in that way.
HOWEVER,
I am not assuming that this is the correct arrangement, just letting
you know that's my initial point.
Charles has probably gone to bed so I might shut up for a bit ;)
M
Dr Matthew Allen
Associate Professor in Internet Studies President Association of
Internet Researchers Faculty of Media Society and Culture Curtin
University of Technology CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
http://smi.curtin.edu.au/NetStudies/allen.htm
+61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 92663166 (f)
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Smith [mailto:smith@sfu.ca]
Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 1:31 PM
To: Matthew Allen
Cc: Charles Ess
Subject: Re: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007 (further comments)
The "Segal Centre" can handle 350 or more. Not as comfortably (chairs
instead of theatre seating), but quite acceptable (and floor to
ceiling 30 ft windows onto the north shore mountains as an added
benefit...)
...r
On 8-Mar-06, at 9:13 PM, Matthew Allen wrote:
However, one immediate concern is that it appears the largest room is
250 only - the keynote room would need to be 350 I suspect. Could you
clarify this.
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication Simon
Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070
0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/
richardsmithpublickey.asc
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication Simon Fraser
University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070
0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/
richardsmithpublickey.asc
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070 0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/richardsmithpublickey.asc
From: Richard Smith <smith@sfu.ca>
Date: March 9, 2006 1:15:42 AM EST (CA)
To: Matthew Allen <M.Allen@exchange.curtin.edu.au>
Cc: "Charles Ess" <cmess@drury.edu>
Subject: Re: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007 (further comments)
I wonder what you think about "capping" the numbers - I am concerned that we might get overly popular and have too many people... I have some ideas about expansion, but I'd rather keep it to 400.
I am quite happy to negotiate the keynotes or whatever - if I am not comfortable with the direction things are heading, I will push back but generally I am either of a similar mind to you (based on our conversation in Chicago) or can be persuaded to adjust.
I won't be out of pocket, don't worry about that! One of the benefits of avoiding the whole hotel nonsense is a much more civil negotiation process and as I have worked in the harbour centre building for almost 15 years I have a lot of personal / social capital that I can draw upon to make this thing come off well.
I am quite optimistic that we can raise some sponsorship money and make this a memorable and fun event.
...r
On 8-Mar-06, at 9:53 PM, Matthew Allen wrote:
That's good then :). Hell, if people are late to the keynote serve them
right - they can stand at the back!
On some of the other issues - ie keynote speakers - that's a good
example (the costs) of how the AoIR conference organisational approach
might differ from what you are used to. My fundamental position on
conference organisation is that there is no single 'right' way to do it,
so long as the conference organisers, program chair, and AoIR all work
collaboratively towards the common goal and in doing so are absolutely
clear on not assuming 'how things should be'.
As an example of one of those assumptions - the legal arrangements for
the conference should be between AoIR and the venue, not between you or
SFU. We don't want to expose you to any liability in that way. HOWEVER,
I am not assuming that this is the correct arrangement, just letting you
know that's my initial point.
Charles has probably gone to bed so I might shut up for a bit ;)
M
Dr Matthew Allen
Associate Professor in Internet Studies
President Association of Internet Researchers
Faculty of Media Society and Culture
Curtin University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
http://smi.curtin.edu.au/NetStudies/allen.htm
+61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 92663166 (f)
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Smith [mailto:smith@sfu.ca]
Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2006 1:31 PM
To: Matthew Allen
Cc: Charles Ess
Subject: Re: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007 (further comments)
The "Segal Centre" can handle 350 or more. Not as comfortably (chairs
instead of theatre seating), but quite acceptable (and floor to ceiling
30 ft windows onto the north shore mountains as an added
benefit...)
...r
On 8-Mar-06, at 9:13 PM, Matthew Allen wrote:
However, one immediate concern is that it appears the largest room is
250 only - the keynote room would need to be 350 I suspect. Could you
clarify this.
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication Simon Fraser
University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070
0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/
richardsmithpublickey.asc
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070 0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/richardsmithpublickey.asc
From: Richard Smith <smith@sfu.ca>
Date: March 9, 2006 1:06:25 AM EST (CA)
To: "Matthew Allen" <M.Allen@exchange.curtin.edu.au>
Cc: "Charles Ess" <cmess@drury.edu>
Subject: Re: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007 (further comments)
Thanks, Matthew and Charles, for the constructive feedback. I'll respond to some of your questions and incorporate your suggestions in my next version of the proposal.
On 8-Mar-06, at 9:13 PM, Matthew Allen wrote:
Here's some further thoughts, in two sections.
Venue and similar issues:
As far as I can see the rooms for conference itself are not in the hotel
at all. So, what you are proposing is that there's a straight payment
for the Harbour SFU facilities and the hotel only features in that it's
close enough to be a good place to stay. I can see here major
advantages. I agree about hotel negotiations - a terrible business :(.
However, one immediate concern is that it appears the largest room is
250 only - the keynote room would need to be 350 I suspect. Could you
clarify this.
Yes. I have the Segal room booked, which can hold the 350 we need.
One thing I don't see is lunch as part of registration - this is always
a point of contention - if the conference doesn't include lunch people
complain; if it does, people whinge about the cost. My personal view is
that whether or not we include lunch depends on the benefit to us in
terms of a reduced rate elsewhere. I also note that $12/ break is a
little high - though I appreciate costs are more expensive there. you
might also want to include arrival tea and coffee too. I am assuming
that the lunch cost is going to be around a minimum of $30/person/day?
You are welcome to present two budgets, one including lunch and one not.
I'll revise to include a lunch budget. The $12/person break is the price for *both* breaks (morning and afternoon) and includes fruit baskets... I think it is a nice touch.
Personally, I'd advocate no lunches, or at least *some* of the lunches on our own - the chance to go out for lunch with colleagues, get out of the venue, is the best thing about a conference.
The banquet is definitely an extra that is revenue neutral. AoIR doesn't
include that event in the registration since not all members attend. I
would estimate you will get 50% attendance at the dinner. Therefore, you
can include coverage of that cost in the actual budget as income - it
will be a revenue neutral exercise. Would the banquet be held at the
hotel? If so, then again you might be able to negotiate some reductions
elsewhere.
I can do a variety of things for the banquet and will explore our options.
The costs for AV and internet appear low, historically speaking. If this
is the likely cost, then great! However, in Chicago we got burned by
internet access charges because the hotel didn't get that we were going
to have a lot of people logging on all at once wirelessly. We also had
problems with AV setup. In Brisbane the quote for JUST AV in 6 rooms is
$15,000 AUD (from the hotel provider) - we will get a cheaper deal
outside. I am assuming that the low cost here is because you are at SFU?
Yes, we benefit from low costs because of our location in the university. Those are the real costs. I haven't included computers, just data projectors - assuming laptops are the mode of the day...
Dates are basically mid-October as you have already experienced with
AoIR but the key thing is, of course, placing the conference at a time
when academics can get to it outside of class. If there is a week free
from contact at some/many CA/US institutions around that time pick the
dates on that basis. That's why Brisbane is 28-30 Sept - coincides with
mid-semester break in AU.
Canada doesn't have a free week in the fall (we do have "spring break" in March) and I am pretty sure US schools don't either. I think we'll just have to work with what we can get. Perhaps we can do a bit of poll of the members of the days.
Do you think the thurs/fri/sat model, with optional things on wed afternoon and possibly on sun morning works?
One thing to consider also in terms of room hiring... There are two
basic structures to the program
You can have either 3 or 4 parallel sessions per day. The merits of 4 /
day is that you can reduce the number of rooms to be hired and give
people more opportunity to hear papers. The merits of 3 / day is a more
relaxed style. I am not sure which suits best but, in Brisbane, we are
going to have 4 sessions / day because the hotel only has 6 rooms for
parallel sessions.
I've scheduled 4 parallels and 4 blocks (2 morning, 2 afternoon), but one of those can be occupied by a plenary.
Conference organisation:
I just need to signal to you that the conference is actually run by a
tripartite arrangement of you as Conference Chair, the person we appoint
as Program Chair, and Charles as the Vice-President. It's expected you
would have a local organising committee of course but we leave that
detail to you. There is no role, however, for your proposed Conference
Advisory Board - essentially the AoIR membership, through air-meet, plus
the Executive, plays that role.
OK by me. The conference advisory committee, in this proposal is to advise me on logistics and events, and all that - not on the papers etc. If I am responsible for the keynotes, though, I would bring them in to that.
It's an important point because the AoIR
conference is always a partnership between the hosts and the Association
and there are some key things which are not at your discretion. For
example, while your theme (which I like!) is probably going to work, it
would need to be agreed by the Exec, the program chair and yourselves;
Certainly. IT is just there as a proposal for now.
similarly, keynoters need Exec approval.
Certainly. I would find them but run the actual choices by the executive.
As noted also, the fee will be
set in agreement between us (obviously we share the same goals, so these
agreements are not too difficult to make). Another example is the exact
programming structure. The program and conference chairs agree on what
that structure is and, hopefully, it will be very similar to yours.
However, there needs to be a bit of negotiation always around things
like numbers of parallels etc.
Oh yes. I am quite happy to do that - although I will get smaller and smaller room for adjustment as we get closer to the date.
For now, that's all from me. Do please feel free to discuss more the
conference organisation / governance issue - it's very important we get
that clear early on. Other than that, it all looks good.
No doubt charles will add more thoughts.
...r
Dr Matthew Allen
Associate Professor in Internet Studies
President Association of Internet Researchers
Faculty of Media Society and Culture
Curtin University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
http://smi.curtin.edu.au/NetStudies/allen.htm
+61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 92663166 (f)
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070 0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/richardsmithpublickey.asc
From: Richard Smith <smith@sfu.ca>
Date: March 9, 2006 12:30:35 AM EST (CA)
To: "Matthew Allen" <M.Allen@exchange.curtin.edu.au>
Cc: "Charles Ess" <cmess@drury.edu>
Subject: Re: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007 (further comments)
The "Segal Centre" can handle 350 or more. Not as comfortably (chairs instead of theatre seating), but quite acceptable (and floor to ceiling 30 ft windows onto the north shore mountains as an added benefit...)
...r
On 8-Mar-06, at 9:13 PM, Matthew Allen wrote:
However, one immediate concern is that it appears the largest room is
250 only - the keynote room would need to be 350 I suspect. Could you
clarify this.
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070 0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/richardsmithpublickey.asc
From: Richard Smith <smith@sfu.ca>
Date: May 5, 2006 10:25:49 PM EDT (CA)
To: Charles Ess <cmess@drury.edu>
Cc: "air-exec@listserv.aoir.org" <air-exec@listserv.aoir.org>
Subject: Re: Proposal for 2007 AoIR conference - some initial questions
Thanks, Charles. All good questions/suggestions. I will try to deal with them one at a time. This comes at a good time, as I have a meeting with the room booking people on the 12th of May to finalize things.
Program
- we can certainly add a day for pre-conference workshops
Budget
In general I tried to make it a budget with allowances - I know there is room to trim and in fact expect to. But I wanted to be sure that it could work in a big picture way.
- I was assuming speakers laptops but I can change that to include a PC that people plug in their USB drive; it isn't a huge additional expense. I will get a quote.
- the coffee service is expensive, and our conference centre/downtown campus sits on top of a mall with no less than 4 coffee shops. In addition there are 4 more on the adjoining streets. Vancouver is a coffee place, as you may have heard. We could make all the coffee breaks "on your own" and save a bundle. We do lose a bit of group camaraderie, though. In between step might be to cut back on what is service and so on. I will work out some options and get back to you.
NOTE: "China" means NOT paper cups, nothing more than that. And that amount includes all the usual alternatives (soft drinks, juice, hot water for tea) as well as snacks. I just listed it as "coffee" more as a time period than a required beverage.
- lunches - other than the one budgeted - are at the discretion of the participants. There are many, many inexpensive restaurants (we are in the centre of the language training district) within walking distance, and I think delegates will want to get out and walk around. If the weather is dreadful they can go down to the mall food court.
- welcome reception can be boosted to 150. I think I can make adjustments to the numbers right up to 3-4 days before.
- hotel rooms can be negotiated in a million ways and I haven't done anything on that front. Our university gets a good deal anyway, because we are affiliated with them, and it is - in my experience - hard to do better than that. Hotel rooms are expensive in Vancouver. There is no getting around that. That said, I have several alternatives in the 3 block radius, and if people would rather save a bit of money there are plenty of choices. I will list them all - and try to get some block deals - in the next version of the budget.
- Wosk Centre is one big "goodie" and the fee includes all the fancy a/v, microphones for every speaker, even a facilitator/moderator. If we choose to do that, I will get all the details for you. But it is full service all the way.
- Keynotes costs were a real "stab in the dark" for me, as I have no knowledge of what has been done in the past. I would like to suggest, in fact, that the AIR Executive take that on as a project as it seems to be closer to program activities than conference activities.
- registration services is a flat fee that includes all the usual things that you expect from a registration - badges, welcoming, fee payment on site, people at the desk to answer questions, etc etc. Again, this is something that can be replaced with volunteers, but I didn't want to hinge my first budget on a bunch of uncertainties like "oh we'll get volunteers for that...".
- materials ... to be honest that is a complete guess and I didn't even start to figure out what that might be.
- tourism vancouver - that's a good suggestion and I will certainly turn to them for help if needed. Steve perhaps doesn't realize that I am local... very local in fact. I have lived in Vancouver for 23 years and have been in the building I am proposing to have the conference in since 1991. I have also been at SFU - in one form or another - for 23 years. Local knowledge and connections is not in short supply here. I have done other conferences in the city and have used the tourism office for things in the past and will do so again.
- One part of Steve's suggestion I don't understand: "suggest submitting an RFP to them". What sort of an RFP? For the registration? For the conference as a whole? Not sure if I am getting the intent here.
...r
On 5-May-06, at 5:20 PM, Charles Ess wrote:
Hi Richard, with copy to AoIR Executive Committee,
First of all, please accept my apologies for not getting back to you sooner
with regard to some of our initial questions and comments. Whatever my
hopes and promise of doing so within the early part of April, I'm afraid I
was in some sense hijacked by two major projects, both of which I thought
had been pretty well finished and put on the shelf (so to speak) - but,
alas, both of which demanded extensive and intensive attention over the past
several weeks instead.
In any event, as I conveyed to you last month, the AoIR Executive Committee
has enthusiastically agreed to pursue your proposal for hosting AoIR 8.0 in
Vancouver.
In particular, people are quite happy to be getting away from a "conference
hotel" and affiliated expenses. And, oh yes, Vancouver isn't so bad ...
(smile). Au contraire...
And now - those devilish details, er, initial queries, etc. (from AoIR
Executive discussion):
PROGRAM
The proposal considers and budgets for a slightly smaller program than we
anticipate:
1) there needs to be an additional day for pre-conference workshops;
2) within the program proper, you have 3 days / 8 parallel sessions @ 3 per
day;
By way of comparison -
Chicago: 3.5 days / 9 parallel sessions
Brisbane: 3 days / 8 parallel sessions
There is not really a quarrel on this point - there seems to be agreement
that the extra half-day in Chicago was not really necessary.
But the extra day for workshops will need to be factored in.
BUDGET (you knew this was coming, eh?)
While the consensus seems to be that the overall shape of the budget is
about right, especially those on the Executive Committee with previous
conference experience have some sharp-eyed questions, comments to raise:
Audio-visual - "assumes laptops" - from whom, speakers?
The coffee quote ($10,800.00) seems high, even if we're dealing in Canadian
dollars - this is more than the conference room rental, for example.
Can this item be negotiated - including the possibility of exploring less
expensive alternatives e.g.,
a) why "china service"?; and,
b) are there other alternatives such as coffee, hot water for tea / cookies,
fresh fruit (or to say it another way: what are we getting for our $6.00 /
person?)
Lunch
there's a quote for only one lunch - are other lunches at people's
discretion?
Welcome reception is budgeted for 100 - but we usually have closer to 150.
Banquet
$40.00 seems low - we should probably assume a higher cost (how much?)
Hotel room costs: we think these can be negotiated down, especially in light
of
(a) the initial group of 12 assumes Executive Committee hotel rooms are
included in the budget - but Executive Committee members pay for their own
hotel costs, just like everyone else. So the number is more like 2-3 for
keynotes.
(b) Given that we will have a significant number of AoIR conference
attendees - what is the minimum number of guaranteed rooms that the hotel
requires to give us a better rate?
Wosk Centre: is the $3,000 basic rental? Does it include other goodies?
Keynote speaker costs may be higher than necessary, based on historical
experience. We typically offer very modest honoraria, room and board, and
travel expenses (no first-class!).
Registration services: what are we getting for the $15.00 / person?
Materials - does the $5,690.00 include the printed program? What else?
Satchels? Etc.
Finally: our ever-alert and _very_ experienced Steve Jones has suggested
I'd encourage the executive committee and
the local organizers (if there are any) to work with the Canadian
Tourism Commission. A good
place to start is their website, http://www.meetings.canada.travel.
They can provide information, support, brochures, forms, even
volunteers (depending on location). I'd suggest submitting an RFP to
them
Sounds like) a good idea to us?
O.k. - I/we don't mean to begin with a barrage, but it's best to get started
quickly and with eyes wide open. Let the games begin!
Thanks, Richard - very much looking forward to working with you and your
colleagues in developing what I'm sure will be still another splendid AoIR
conference!
Cheers, happy weekend, and all best wishes
- cX
(my executive committee moniker - long story, but I like the abbreviation
Charles Ess
Distinguished Research Professor,
Interdisciplinary Studies <http://www.drury.edu/gp21>
Drury University
900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230
Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435
Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html
Co-chair, CATaC'06: http://www.catacconference.org
Co-chair, ECAP'06: http://www.eu-cap.org
Professor II, Globalization and Applied Ethics Programmes
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
http://www.anvendtetikk.ntnu.no/pres/bridgingcultures.php
Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Skype - callto://richard_k_smith
From: Richard Smith <smith@sfu.ca>
Date: April 11, 2006 9:41:17 AM EDT (CA)
To: Charles Ess <cmess@drury.edu>
Subject: Re: Proposal for 2007 AoIR conference accepted
Thanks, Charles. I am excited to accept the appointment and will be working hard on those devilish details right now.
...r
On 11-Apr-06, at 6:00 AM, Charles Ess wrote:
Dear Richard Smith (copy to the Executive Committee of AoIR),
On behalf of the Executive Committee of AoIR, I'm very pleased to inform you
that your and your colleagues' proposal has been enthusiastically accepted;
hence, we would like to appoint you as conference chair for the AoIR 8.0
conference, to be held in Vancouver in 2007.
The Executive Committee found your proposal very solid and exciting, and we
thank you first of all for your and your colleagues' energy and expertise of
in developing the proposal for AoIR.
As experienced conference organizers, we both know that even with all the
excellent groundwork you and your colleagues have developed, there are many,
many details to work through as we move on with developing concrete plans to
bring the conference to fruition. (The Medievals noted that "God is in the
details" - the modern version, of course, is "The Devil is in the details."
Either way, it's the details that matter, of course.)
In another week or so, I will be able to summarize and take up with you the
initial points raised in the Executive Committee's discussion of the
proposal (sorry, major publication deadline just now, coupled with
out-of-town trip on Thursday through the rest of the week).
But let me initially note that
a) as conference chair, we understand that you are hosting and organizing
the event for and on behalf of the Association and subject to the final
oversight of the Executive Committee,
b) and that in normal circumstance decisions about the conference shall be
based on agreement between you as Chair, the yet-to-be-appointed Program
Chair, and me as the AoIR VP, representing the Executive and the Association
as a whole.
From my perspective, one of the first orders of business is to recruit the
Program Chair. I have some ideas about this, but want to ask you about your
thoughts. You and I can discuss this in the next few weeks, along with the
other items that I plan to pick up with you next week.
Please confirm with us that you are indeed still willing and able to engage
in this project, and then we will announce the conference venue officially
on air-l.
I hope you and your colleagues are as pleased as we are with the decision of
the Executive Committee, and on behalf of the Executive Committee, I look
forward to working with you and your colleagues on AoIR 8.0.
With all best wishes in the meantime,
- charles
Charles Ess
Distinguished Research Professor,
Interdisciplinary Studies <http://www.drury.edu/gp21>
Drury University
900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230
Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435
Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html
Co-chair, CATaC'06: http://www.catacconference.org
Co-chair, ECAP'06: http://www.eu-cap.org
Professor II, Globalization and Applied Ethics Programmes
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
http://www.anvendtetikk.ntnu.no/pres/bridgingcultures.php
Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070 0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/richardsmithpublickey.asc
From: Richard Smith <smith@sfu.ca>
Date: March 16, 2006 9:58:18 AM EST (CA)
To: Charles Ess <cmess@drury.edu>
Cc: Matthew Allen <M.Allen@exchange.curtin.edu.au>
Subject: Re: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007 (further comments)
I don't think so either - but if there's anything you think needs clarifying, I can get on that. I guess the only thing that might be good is to let them know that these are 'best estimate' numbers, that there are lots of places for 'tweaking' but I wanted to do a manageable and achievable budget. If they have concerns, I can probably address them quickly - just have them sent me an email or give a call.
...r
On 16-Mar-06, at 6:03 AM, Charles Ess wrote:
I don't know that there's much left to be done on it, at least to get it
ready for the executive committee?
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070 0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/richardsmithpublickey.asc
From: Richard Smith <smith@sfu.ca>
Date: March 14, 2006 4:49:13 PM EST (CA)
To: Charles Ess <cmess@drury.edu>
Cc: Matthew Allen <M.Allen@exchange.curtin.edu.au>
Subject: Re: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007 (further comments)
Thanks, Charles. I continue to tinker with the proposal in minor ways, and will be prepared to make a presentation about Vancouver in Brisbane if you choose us. Let me know if you need further information in the mean time.
...r
On 13-Mar-06, at 3:44 PM, Charles Ess wrote:
Hi Richard, Matt,
Richard has written (just prior to sending the revised proposal - thanks!)
I wonder what you think about "capping" the numbers - I am concerned
that we might get overly popular and have too many people... I have
some ideas about expansion, but I'd rather keep it to 400.
I think you two have resolved this matter satisfactorily?
I am quite happy to negotiate the keynotes or whatever - if I am not
comfortable with the direction things are heading, I will push back
but generally I am either of a similar mind to you (based on our
conversation in Chicago) or can be persuaded to adjust.
I won't be out of pocket, don't worry about that! One of the benefits
of avoiding the whole hotel nonsense is a much more civil negotiation
process and as I have worked in the harbour centre building for
almost 15 years I have a lot of personal / social capital that I can
draw upon to make this thing come off well.
I am quite optimistic that we can raise some sponsorship money and
make this a memorable and fun event.
All good news, of course!
For my part, after reviewing the emails and the revised proposal, I don't
have any further questions or concerns. On the contrary, I think it's a
very strong proposal indeed.
Matt - any remaining issues / questions that you see?
Let me know - looking forward to moving on with this!
thanks to you both for all of your work on this!
cheers,
- cX
Charles Ess
Distinguished Research Professor,
Interdisciplinary Studies <http://www.drury.edu/gp21>
Drury University
900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230
Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435
Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html
Co-chair, CATaC'06: http://www.catacconference.org
Co-chair, ECAP'06: http://www.eu-cap.org
Professor II, Globalization and Applied Ethics Programmes
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
http://www.anvendtetikk.ntnu.no/pres/bridgingcultures.php
Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070 0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/richardsmithpublickey.asc
From: Richard Smith <smith@sfu.ca>
Date: March 9, 2006 1:07:35 AM EST (CA)
To: Charles Ess <cmess@drury.edu>
Subject: Fwd: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007?
I forgot to cc you on this one...
Begin forwarded message:
From: Richard Smith <smith@sfu.ca>
Date: March 8, 2006 9:28:29 PM PST (CA)
To: "Matthew Allen" <M.Allen@exchange.curtin.edu.au>
Subject: Re: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007?
On 8-Mar-06, at 8:27 PM, Matthew Allen wrote:
Hi all
Will read the document when it arrives but a quick response:
1) Conference size.
That's what I have done. In fact, we're going to be tight at 350 but better tight than rattling around, I think.
2) Keynote speaker costs are always tricky.
So you'd like us to take care of this? The people and their fees/expenses? I can deal with that.
3) Conference registration -
We can talk about that. I have budgeted for the university to do it - we can reduce our costs considerably if we use kagi/paypal whatever but we still need staff to meet and greet. If you'd rather this be done by students, I can arrange that.
4) Conference fees - the fee is, formally, set by the AoIR executive
(obviously on your advice :) ).
Good advice. I think I am sort of in the range of your calculation (288 papers, etc) - check into my assumptions and let me know what you think. I am quite happy to work with the exec on the final numbers. I think we could easily charge $250 for full members, with a $199 early registration fee, for example.
Will read and say more :)
Dr Matthew Allen
Associate Professor in Internet Studies
President Association of Internet Researchers
Faculty of Media Society and Culture
Curtin University of Technology
CRICOS Provider Code 00301J
http://smi.curtin.edu.au/NetStudies/allen.htm
+61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 92663166 (f)
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070 0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/richardsmithpublickey.asc
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070 0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/richardsmithpublickey.asc
From: Richard Smith <smith@sfu.ca>
Date: March 9, 2006 12:23:36 AM EST (CA)
To: Charles Ess <cmess@drury.edu>
Cc: Matthew Allen <M.Allen@exchange.curtin.edu.au>
Subject: Re: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007?
Thanks, Charles. Responses below:
* Feenberg. Andrew is a new research chair in our department, and has his office in the building where the conference will be held. He is also part of my research group.
* Keynotes. I have already approached a couple of local sponsors and - without sounding overly optimistic - I think we can cover the $6-10k additional expenses. You can see that I budgeted a very low fee for students and even faculty, and still had a 'profit' so I think we should be able to fit it in.
* Banquets. Since sending that to you, I notice that I have not factored in the cost of the lunch banquets, even though they are in my schedule. Back to the spreadsheet/drawing board for me... But a lunch banquet is a natural for sponsorship. Alternatively, we can send people on their own at lunch and have the keynotes right after lunch.
* Schedule. You'll notice I was pretty vague on the schedule, as I understood from Matt that AIR likes to program the day themselves. I am happy to work around whatever you like.
* Conference hotel. I am actually avoiding the whole conference hotel scenario - they tend to offer "free" rooms but then more than make it up in other stuff, forcing you to commit to a certain number of hotel rooms, catering, etc, and then screwing you on the coffee and A/V. Instead, I am booking the whole thing in our university's downtown campus, which is like a conference centre. I get internal rates, I know all the people and can trust them, and I am not beholden to anyone for room bookings. So I have to pay for the conference rooms (that's the $7800) but I think it makes sense. I far prefer that sort of setting to the conference hotel thing, anyway. We will, of course make some block bookings for people who want to stay there - it is a nice hotel - but won't require it, and can in fact recommend any of a dozen nearby hotels or B&B.
* Negotiating. I will indeed be aggressively negotiating everything once we get started. These are "book" costs and are placeholders to make sure the event makes sense financially.
* Registration. Yes, I have chosen to use the conference registration services provided by our university. They are not cheap ($15-20/person) but they provide excellent service and they are professional. They can handle financial (credit cards, etc) matters as well as badges, tickets, and whatever. I think it is money well spent.
On 8-Mar-06, at 8:05 PM, Charles Ess wrote:
I've got it pretty far along - I am enclosing a copy - let me know
what you think.
...r
Hi Richard, copy to Matt -
First of all, thanks very much for this - I'd say it's pretty far along,
indeed! (Matt, I'll forward you the document in a separate email so you can
have a sense of it as well.)
I will want to go over this more carefully this weekend - but on a first,
fairly careful read, this looks very strong indeed (not to mention - an
impressive use of graphics and text), and I'm eager to pursue discussion of
details with you and your team.
In particular, it appears that your budget covers all the required elements
- except honoraria and related expenses for 2-3 keynoters, unless I missed
something?
Matt will tell you on this point: it would be terrific to work up local
sponsorships that would help cover these expenses (ca. $6,000-10,000 as a
working estimate).
Matt would also encourage you to pursue "fierce negotiation" with the
conference hotel - or perhaps the figures you cite are already the result of
same?
One thing I can't quite make out - and again, apologies if this is clearly
stated and it's just too late for me to be reading clearly: are the
conference rooms (budgeted at $7,800.00) at the conference hotel?
I'm also not seeing in the initial schedule where the special event at the
Wosk Centre for Dialogue might fit in?
One very important point, as you suggest, will be the conference
registration services. This is frankly a sore point for the executive
committee - without going into the boring details, we have not been
satisfied (to say the least) with the conference organization services used
in the past.
For that - perhaps you have in mind using a service affiliated with the
university?
In any event, yes, please, it will be very helpful to look into these
details.
On the other hand, even if the costs for conference registration come in
somewhat higher, it seems to me (again, offhand - I'll want to look more
closely) that with the contingency and fee structure, the budget looks quite
good - and, at least from a U.S. perspective, presuming you're talking about
Canadian dollars throughout, I think there's room to increase the conference
fee by $10-25.00 if necessary?
You asked for feedback about the conference size - i.e., keeping it to ca.
400. Offhand, I think this is right - Matthew?
Again, this all looks very strong and good to me! I'm personally pleased to
see Andrew Feenburg involved! And, more significantly, while I'll want to
double-check the numbers, budget, etc., the fee schedule for students, etc.,
looks right to me.
In short - thanks very much indeed for this very solid proposal, and I very
much look forward to pursuing refining some of these details with you and
your colleagues.
With all best wishes, and looking forward to hearing from you -
c.
Charles Ess
Distinguished Research Professor,
Interdisciplinary Studies <http://www.drury.edu/gp21>
Drury University
900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230
Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435
Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html
Co-chair, CATaC'06: http://www.catacconference.org
Co-chair, ECAP'06: http://www.eu-cap.org
Professor II, Globalization and Applied Ethics Programmes
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
http://www.anvendtetikk.ntnu.no/pres/bridgingcultures.php
Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070 0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/richardsmithpublickey.asc
From: Richard Smith <smith@sfu.ca>
Date: March 7, 2006 11:14:19 PM EST (CA)
To: Charles Ess <cmess@drury.edu>
Subject: Re: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007?
I've got it pretty far along - I am enclosing a copy - let me know what you think.
...r
On 7-Mar-06, at 6:19 PM, Charles Ess wrote:
Thanks, Charles. The proposal is coming together nicely, and my email
has already brought a few local members of AIR out of the woodwork,
offering to help. I think it is going to be a very strong proposal.
Hi Richard,
I'm just following up to see how you and your colleagues are coming along
with your proposal?
If you could let me know in the next few days what the situation is, I'd
appreciate it. As I'm sure you can appreciate, we're eager to move forward
on organizing AoIR 2007.
Looking forward to hearing from you - let me know if I can offer any
information or assistance along the way.
cheers,
- charles
Charles Ess
Distinguished Research Professor,
Interdisciplinary Studies <http://www.drury.edu/gp21>
Drury University
900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230
Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435
Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html
Co-chair, CATaC'06: http://www.catacconference.org
Co-chair, ECAP'06: http://www.eu-cap.org
Professor II, Globalization and Applied Ethics Programmes
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
http://www.anvendtetikk.ntnu.no/pres/bridgingcultures.php
Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070 0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/richardsmithpublickey.asc
From: Richard Smith <smith@sfu.ca>
Date: February 28, 2006 9:58:43 PM EST (CA)
To: Charles Ess <cmess@drury.edu>
Subject: Re: [Air-l] AIR in Vancouver in 2007?
Thanks, Charles. The proposal is coming together nicely, and my email has already brought a few local members of AIR out of the woodwork, offering to help. I think it is going to be a very strong proposal.
...r
On 28-Feb-06, at 5:59 PM, Charles Ess wrote:
Dear fellow AIR members,
Dear Richard,
funny you should ask...
The executive committee has been discussing possible venues for 2007 and
2008, and Vancouver was floated as one of the options...
No decisions have been reached by any means - but a proposal of the sort you
describe, I can safely say, would be reviewed with great interest by the
executive committee.
So, let me strongly encourage you to develop the proposal - and I know we on
the executive committee will look forward to receiving it!
In all events, I'm delighted that you had such a good and productive time at
previous conferences, and will look forward to meeting you in Brisbane this
fall / spring.
Thanks so much - and cheers and all best wishes in the meantime,
- charles ess
(Vice President, AoIR)
As a break from the current discussions on teens and IM and SMS and
all that, I have a question. Want to come to Vancouver in 2007?
I had a wonderful time at the AIR conference in Chicago last fall,
and I am looking forward to Brisbane this fall (spring there, I
guess). A few years ago I was at the Maastricht and Toronto AIR
conferences and enjoyed those, as well. All of which is a preface to
my seeming madness at what I am about to propose - hosting the next,
next AIR (2007) in Vancouver, Canada. I think it is time to give
something back.
I haven't done a formal proposal yet, and only spoken about it to a
few people here in Vancouver, so if others are thinking similarly and
are further along, let me know and I can tag along. If others think
this is a good idea and would like to help out - please contact me
directly (smith@sfu.ca). If you think this is a bad idea and I should
NOT pursue it, I'd certainly like to hear about that, too!
I will be approaching the executive in the next week or so, with a
few cost estimates and suggestions for venues. I think we can have a
fun, interesting, and exciting conference here in Vancouver, and I
look forward to showing you our lovely home. In the mean time,
feedback is most welcome.
...r
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA
V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070
0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/
richardsmithpublickey.asc
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Charles Ess
Distinguished Research Professor,
Interdisciplinary Studies <http://www.drury.edu/gp21>
Drury University
900 N. Benton Ave. Voice: 417-873-7230
Springfield, MO 65802 USA FAX: 417-873-7435
Home page: http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html
Co-chair, CATaC'06: http://www.catacconference.org
Co-chair, ECAP'06: http://www.eu-cap.org
Professor II, Globalization and Applied Ethics Programmes
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
http://www.anvendtetikk.ntnu.no/pres/bridgingcultures.php
Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23
--
Richard Smith, Associate Professor School of Communication
Simon Fraser University, 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver, CANADA V6B 5K3
Phone: 604 291 5116 Web: http://www.sfu.ca/~smith/ Mobitus: 2001 1070 0578 skype - callto://richard_k_smith
PGP Public Key: http://arago.cprost.sfu.ca/smith/richardsmithpublickey.asc