Student Column: Don't Miss These Activities at the 2011 ICA Conference in Boston!
Last month, our column included information needed to prepare for the 2011 ICA conference, especially important for first-time attendees but also a good reminder for all student attendees. We advised you to reupload your paper in the finalized format on the conference site; to preregister for the conference, preconferences, and virtual conference; and of course to secure transportation and accommodation in due time.
Now that you have your plane ticket purchased and your hotel room booked, we are hoping that we can be of further use to you by suggesting some activities that you simply can't miss-they were designed with you in mind.
One important activity to participate in is the ICA Opening Reception, held at the Westin Waterfront Galleria on Thursday, 26 May, 7:30-9:30 p.m. This is a first opportunity for you to network at the conference, to meet other ICA members, whether students, emerging scholars, or established scholars.
Another key networking activity for ICA student members is the Student Reception, held at the Lucky's Lounge Nightclub on Friday, 27 May, 8:00-10:00 p.m. Lucky's Lounge is within walking distance from the conference hotel, and comes highly recommended by many Bostonians. Come, enjoy the refreshments, discuss with peers, and learn how to better navigate the ICA conference!
If you are interested in a specific area of communication studies, then identify the division mainly focused on that area (if you haven't done that already), and attend the division's business meeting as well as the division's reception. You will thus hear from and about scholars in the respective subdiscipline of communication, and you might find opportunities to get further involved with topics that you are passionate about. Additionally, many division receptions are held in places outside the conference hotel, providing you with chances to learn more about the culture of this year's conference host city.
In addition to the networking activities, there are general sessions of interest for ICA student members. There is the New Member and Graduate Student Orientation, held in Harbor Ballroom I on Friday, 27 May, 10:30-11:45 a.m., which will offer details about the organization, the conference, and opportunities for participating in ICA. There is also the Annual Awards and Presidential Address, held in Harbor Ballroom I on Saturday, 28 May, 4:30-5:45, during which the contributions of various top scholars will be honored by our organization, and Francois Cooren, the President of ICA, will speak about "Communication Theory @ the Center: The Communicative Constitution of Reality." And there is the "Meet the Editors" session, held in Commonwealth Ballroom B on Sunday, 29 May, 3:00-4:15 p.m., which will be devoted to addressing issues that you may have about specific ICA publications.
This year, as we have announced in previous newsletter columns, there is a new activity prepared specifically for student members: the ICA Master Classes. Below is a list of the Master Classes that we hope you will find informative, engaging, and contributory to your intellectual development:
We also hope you will not miss the miniplenaries, which are special programs that each focuses on a key issue in communication studies. Below is a list of this year's miniplenaries:
Last but not least, we are hoping that you will attend many paper and panel sessions of your choice, as well as the interactive paper or poster sessions held in Grand Ballroom A/B on Sunday, May 29, 13:30-14:45 p.m.
Some final pieces of advice: look for the top papers and the top student papers awarded by your divisions and interest groups, and also do not hesitate to look for (and talk to) the leaders of ICA. Have a productive and rewarding ICA conference in Boston!