The National Communication Association, in conjunction with Maltepe University, sponsored a conference on Intercultural Dialogue in Istanbul at the end of July 2009 (see (http://www.natcom.org/istanbul). NCA officers in attendance (Betsy Bach, Dawn Braithwaite, and Lynn Turner, as President, First Vice President, and Second Vice President, respectively) and Patrice Buzzanell, representing ICA, provided opening remarks and participated in the closing discussion about ICA and NCA associational involvement in intercultural and other communication initiatives.

Hosted by Maltepe University at the Maltepe University Campus, Marmara Egitim Koyu (translated as Marmara Education Village), Basibuyuk, Maltepe, Istanbul at the Anatolian side of the city, this NCA Summer Conference attracted 77 submissions by the deadline, that then underwent masked peer review with 42 (55%) accepted.

The sessions in Istanbul featured lots of discussion and keynote speakers. The goal was not to have traditional paper presentations but to integrate aspects of accepted papers into each working group discussion round. As such, this Summer Conference is consistent with the NCA Faculty Development Institute (also known as the Hope Conference for NCA members who are interested in learning about, teaching, and researching in particular communication areas) and the NCA Doctoral Honors Conference which attends to doctoral students' professional and dissertation development through working group discussions.

In addition to the scholarly presentations and discussions, there also were evening receptions organized around local poster/art installations, several documentary films, and plenty of sightseeing to places like the Blue Mosque, the village of Polonezkoy, the Grand Bazaar, and Hagia Sophia. Of greater importance to conference attendees were the mix of question-driven sessions on culture, communication, engaged scholarship, and specific research projects.

There were a number of featured speakers but I'll highlight only a couple. Katérina Stenou, the Director of the Division of Cultural Policies and Intercultural Dialogue in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization spoke about the history of UNESCO. She urged members of our field to get at the heart of dialogue-to address these struggles sincerely--in ways that promote the diversity of cultures, peace, stability, and security.

Lisa Rudnick, the Senior Researcher and Assistant Project Manager of the Security Needs Assessment Protocol for UNIDIR (United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, Institut des Nations Unies pour la recherché sur le désarmement) discussed her background in the ethnography of communication and her desire to have scholars in our field contribute to the UN effort on security needs assessment protocol work, particularly locally grounded program designs. Lisa argued that often discussions move too quickly and directly from problem to planning stage (allocation of resources) without considering what needs to be done in a particular place and what needs to be understood to do that well. She discussed different phases in locally grounded program designs. She also requested that communication scholars stimulate research on peace and security, develop mechanism for application of such scholarship, and build applications and/or educate students.

The final sessions drew participants into discussions about institutional, national, and global agendas and action research. Matthew Gumpert and Bahattin Aksit discussed the theoretical, interdisciplinary, intercultural, and practical work of Centers in Turkey. Conference participants expressed strong desires for continued discussion via wikis and publications. They also expressed interest in associational microfinancing of research projects. Other discussions centered on promotion and tenure tracks aligned with engagement and tentative plans to conduct follow-up conference in two years (Summer 2011) in St. Petersburg, Russia, co-sponsored by NCA and the Russian Communication Association. Donal Carbaugh is liaising with Irina Rozina about conference possibilities in Russia. A final outcome was that a preconference for ICA in 2010 is being organized around some of intercultural communication issues discussed during this Istanbul conference.

In addition to Maltepe University and NCA, I'd like to publically thank Nazan Haydari Pakkan, Donal Carbaugh, and Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz for inviting ICA participation in this latest conference in our field's continuing efforts toward greater internationalization of our associations and our research. I'd also like to thank Purdue University for funding part of my trip.