Ever since the decision was made to hold the 2013 conference in London, it was expected that inviting the worldwide community of communication scholars to gather there was bound to get some serious attention. When came the time to ask for proposals of papers, panels, posters, preconferences, postconferences and other social-academic activities, there was little doubt that London would inspire members and generate an impressive string of projects.

In the next issue of this newsletter, we will give a detailed account of the response to the call for proposals. At this point, we can already take the full measure of the exceptional number of preconferences and postconferences being in preparation. Although many are not yet completely finalized, it is not unlikely that as many as 30 preconferences might take place, just before the main conference. Such a high number of preconferences is simply unprecedented. Of course some of these might not materialize, or might have to be cancelled if the number of participants is insufficient. Nonetheless, there will be an incredible array of preconferences offered. Some of these will take place at the main conference site, others in universities both inside and outside of London (including in Oxford, Leeds, Edinburgh or Leicester). Two postconferences are also in preparation. 

By chance, the annual conference of a sister organization is taking place just three days after the end of the ICA conference, and not too far from London: IAMCR's annual conference will be held from 25-29 June 2013 in Dublin, Ireland. In order to symbolically bridge the two events, and to help members who would consider attending both conferences, we are planning to charter one or several buses to transfer any number of participants from London to Dublin between the two conferences on Sunday, 23 June 2013. The trip takes the better part of a day and would transport participants on a beautiful trip across England, Wales, across the Irish Sea on a ferry boat, and then on to Dublin. This would certainly be a memorable trip marking a break within a marathon of sessions and lectures for those who'd decide to attend both the ICA and the IAMCR conferences.