November is one of the most exciting months in the ICA calendar year. Other than the time of our annual conference, November marks the time when the real work of our association is accomplished. Our new Regional Board Members and quite a few new Division/Interest Group officers have been elected. Our new President Elect-Select also has been notified. Congratulations to our new board members, division/interest group officers, and to President-Elect Select, Francois Cooren, from Universite de Montreal!
With November 3rd being the conference submission deadline (11 pm eastern standard time!) and committee work starting in earnest, much planning and discussion is going on this month. Our conference submissions have accelerated exponentially in the last couple of days and our 2009 Chicago conference looks as though the selection of program offerings will be numerous and diverse.
For those who have online access to the new International Encyclopedia of Communication, the search process and entries are easy to locate and outstanding contributions to our own disciplinary understandings as well as others' sensemaking about our field and its distinctive characteristics. Past President Wolf Donsbach deserves congratulations once more for overseeing this massive and important project.
November also marks the time when our 2008 conference assessment is complete. Barbie Zelizer, our President Elect, highlights some of our findings in this newsletter. As always, we use these data to make decisions about conference planning and other ICA initiatives.
In addition, we have had great feedback about our cosponsored conference in Mexico and collaborations with other regional and national associations.
During meetings with different association representatives this month, we continue ongoing work on quality indicators in our field and expanding those indicators to delve moreso into the humanities aspects of communication. Upcoming November conference meetings with members of the National Communication Association, the European Communication Research Association, and others offer opportunities to discuss current disciplinary issues and trends in publishing.
It's a busy month, to be sure....but it's also the one that to a great extent determines the agenda of the International Communication Association for the coming year. I encourage members to keep an eye on the Newsletter, the ICA website, and broadcast messages from officers, Division chairs, and the office in Washington DC to stay informed on these developments as they happen.
