Onward to Phoenix!
The big news this month is the opening of our registration site for the Phoenix conference in May. This conference promises to be one of ICA's most popular. The call for papers generated a huge response and the event will feature an equally impressive set of presentations. The 5-day event entitled "Communication and Community" will include papers on a vast array of social and community-related issues; and what better place to hold this conference than Arizona, a state which has recently witnessed its own share of community issues.
The opening plenary features "The Lost Boys of Sudan." The moniker, borrowed from the children's story Peter Pan, is pinned to a group whose own story, riddled with pain, suffering, and despicable atrocities, could not be any further from a children's tale. These orphaned boys, driven from Sudan by the thousands, sought refuge from the Sudanese civil war into neighboring Ethiopia and Kenya during the late 1980s. After a Communist overthrow in 1991, armed militia and tanks drove the group in Ethiopia out of the country at gunpoint, worsening the situation. The militia shot thousands of children trying to cross the River Gilo; many more drowned or were eaten by crocodiles. The survivors trudged on for over a year, crossing Sudan on their way to Kenya. Only 10,000 to 12,000 individuals - half of the original group - survived the illness, starvation, and dehydration that they faced along the way. Be sure to attend the opening plenary if you would like to hear more of their fascinating story. In the meantime, if you wish to learn more about the Lost Boys of the Sudan, you can visit their website at www.azlostboyscenter.org.
Another very special plenary featuring Grammy nominated Native American performance artist, Jana Mashonee, will take place on Friday, 25 May. Ms. Mashonee has written and performed songs ranging from traditional Christmas carols in Native American languages to her more recent, blues-inspired ballads on her album "New Moon Born." The session will be followed by reception at the Heard Museum. These two events are just the beginning of the many wonderful events in store for conference attendees.
As you register for the conference, you will notice a couple of new items that promote ICA's Green Initiative. New ways of accessing the conference program will lessen our environmental impact during the annual conference. This year, in addition to the traditional printed program and a flash drive program with abstracts, we will offer a new option that places us one rung higher on the technological ladder. ICA has gone the way of the mobile app! Registrants can now enjoy the convenience of the entire program in the palm of their hands with ICA's new Conference App. Choosing this option will enable you to view sessions, plan daily schedules, navigate the conference halls, and engage in social media with other conference attendees. Plus, it's completely free! Be on the lookout for the downloadable app on our website.
The second change in conference registration involves an innocuous little question at the bottom of the check out screen where you credit card information is entered, asking about your mode of travel to Phoenix. The ICA Task Force on the Greening of ICA is attempting to get a good estimate of our ecological "footprint" at an annual conference. The information is primarily for educational purposes and will help find potential areas where we as a group can cut down usage. Another area from which the Task Force will be collecting data is from the hotel. As it turns out, the Sheraton Phoenix already does a carbon usage analysis on each event held there, which will provide the Task Force with an accurate picture of energy consumed. The final step involves surveying our exhibitors for data such as city of origin, approximate weight shipped and method of travel. Of course, we will continue to provide fully recycled or sustainable conference supplies such as bags, name badge holders and lanyards to our attendees. There will also be recycling containers throughout the conference, and the hotel has agreed to eliminate as much waste in food and beverage as possible.
Digressing a bit, many of you know ICA offers the opportunity to opt out of receiving hard copies of the ICA journals. We ask members to opt out of journals they don't use for their research and many of you have. Thank you! We have now added the ICA Quarterly publication "Headline News" to that list. The Quarterly skims over articles of interest that originally appeared in the ICA Newsletter. Simply put, they offer material you may have already read in the monthly newsletter. The Headline News costs over $1000 in printing and postage. Opting out would not only conserve resources such as paper, printing, shipment resources, and so forth, but would also save ICA money. We hope you consider opting out of the review; you can do so by accessing your ICA profile.
Finally, there are 15 preconference sessions to choose from this year! Access detailed information on each at http://www.icahdq.org/conf/2012/preconferences.asp. There are also several excursions and one special event that are worth looking into, not the least of which is a trip to the Grand Canyon! The Seventh Natural Wonder of the World promises to take your breath away and leave you with memories you are not likely to forget soon. Get more information on this and other excursions at http://www.icahdq.org/conf/2012/tours.asp.
There are many other treasures to be found in and around the Phoenix, Arizona region. Come to the conference for some of the best scholarship our group has to offer and some of the best attractions found in the area.