[Air-l] October 2002 AoIR Executive Committee Report (of a kind)

[Steve Jones]

October 24, 2002
Report of the a(o).i.r. executive committee
Prepared by Steve Jones



AoIR Executive Committee
President: Steve Jones
Vice-President: Nancy Baym
Secretary: Ulla Bunz
Treasurer: Benjamin Bates
Open Seats: David Silver and Barry Wellman
Appointed Seats: Matthew Allen and Leslie Shade
Student Seat: Lisbeth Klastrup
Publications Officers: Jeremy Hunsinger and Charlie Breindahl
2002 Conference Chair: Monica Murero
2002 Conference Program Chair: Klaus Bruhn Jensen
2003 Conference Chair: Liss Jeffrey
2003 Conference Program Co-Chairs: Matthew Allen, David Mitchell
Ethics Working Group Chair: Charles Ess


1.  Introduction & General (Jones)

Ulla has already sent the minutes of the meetings that took place in 
Maastricht and those serve in the place of the usual monthly reports 
from the executive committee. I did, however, want to add a 
post-Maastricht post-script.

There are many people to thank for the success of the conference in 
Maastricht. I could create a list that would be longer than the 
longest air-l daily digest: The Infonomics Institute and its 
Director, Luc Soete, The Cal Company and the MECC (which I still 
think stands for "Monica's Excellent Conference Center"), the members 
of the program committee and our terrific program chair this year 
Klaus Bruhn Jensen, the members of the executive committee, our 
keynoters, Apple Computer, Sander Pomme, Herman Pijper, Sage 
Publications for sponsoring a refreshment break...and on and on.

Nevertheless, the primary "mover and shaker" behind it was Monica 
Murero and she deserves all of the thanks and credit in the world, 
certainly far more than I can convey. It was through her hard work 
and dedication that the stage was literally set for the several days 
we were able to meet, talk, think, share, eat, in some cases dance, 
and for many us rarely get some sleep. The conference was splendid, 
and I'm sure I speak on behalf of the attendees, as well as many who 
were unable to attend, in addition to myself, by saying that Monica 
has earned her place in AoIR history.

Given this, she and the others of you, whether in Maastricht or not, 
have assured AoIR a strong and vibrant future. Two years ago when we 
met for the first time at the University of Kansas it was not 
entirely certain that we would have another meeting. The good people 
at the University of Minnesota ensured that we would, and I was more 
than heartened by the turnout there, in the face of great unease 
about travel - some of which continues to this day, and if not unease 
about travel then unease about the prospect of war. I continue to be 
grateful that so many are willing to spend time away from family and 
other loved ones to be with colleagues and friends for some days. 
Spending time with one another is a gift I suspect we do not think 
about as much as we may have before we had the Internet and 
widespread use of email, but it is cherished.

It is my hope that many of you will again spend some time together, 
with me, in Toronto, October 16 - 19, 2003. There is a productive and 
spirited discussion on air-meet already going on concerning planning 
for the conference, and I encourage you to join in if you would like 
(http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-meet). Liss Jeffrey, David 
Mitchell and Matthew Allen are already leading us toward another 
excellent gathering in a year's time. We will need reviewers for 
conference paper, panel, workshop, etc., proposals - I cannot stress 
enough how much we will need your help for that!

And I encourage you to consider hosting a future conference, so I 
will be re-posting our Call for Hosts in a moment. It is, of course, 
a lot of work to host a conference, but with each one we are better 
able to plan and anticipate the needs. Given our rapid growth we need 
to be planning still further ahead, and I will look forward to our 
2004, 2005 and beyond meetings,too, with great anticipation.

It is on such a note of encouragement that I will end this report. 
AoIR has grown phenomenally, and to make it an association that you 
like, you need to be involved in it. If you like something about it, 
please work with us to make it more to your liking. If you don't like 
something about it, work to change it. Whatever you do, do not walk 
away from it - neither we, nor you, I venture, can possibly gain that 
way. We have a diverse group of members, and we could diversify still 
further, but diversification, like anything else, will not happen if 
we look for someone else to do it for us. Tell people you think might 
be interested in AoIR about us. Join in on air-meet or on a working 
group. Propose a working group to start a new initiative. Propose 
panels, papers. Post to air-l. This association sprang from the 
desire of a few people to do something and from the follow-up actions 
they took, and it can continue only if others act on their interests 
and desires. Get in touch with me or with other members of the 
executive committee at your pleasure and let us know your thoughts 
and interests, and your interest to volunteer.




------------------------------------end of executive committee 
report------------------------------

The Association of Internet Researchers is a scholarly association 
dedicated to the advancement of the cross-disciplinary field of 
Internet studies. It is a resource and support network promoting 
critical and scholarly Internet research independent from traditional 
disciplines and existing across academic borders. The association is 
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