[Air-l] August, 2003 AoIR Executive Committee Report

[Steve Jones]

August 17, 2003
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
2003 Conference Chair: Liss Jeffrey
2003 Conference Program Co-Chairs: Matthew Allen and David Mitchell
Ethics Working Group Chair: Charles Ess
Elections Working Group Chair: Mia Consalvo
Net Resources Working Group Chair: Charlie Breindahl


1.  Introduction & General (Jones)

Below is the monthly report from AoIR executive committee members. If 
you aren't reading this...well, you ought to be. I know it can get 
lengthy, and it can get detailed, but it's the single best way to 
know what AoIR is up to, and to find ways to get involved with it (in 
any number of ways from contacting the people who report to 
volunteering to work on something you see mentioned to making 
suggestions to...).


2.  Executive Officers' Reports

2.1 President (Jones)

2.1.1 The election process for AoIR executive offices is complete. My 
congratulations to those who have been elected to an office. And, my 
thanks to all those who ran for an office. The slate of candidates 
was first-rate, and I think that bodes very, very well for AoIR's 
future. Thank you, too, to all of those who voted, as well as to 
Jennifer Stromer-Galley for counting the votes.

2.1.2 The Toronto conference is drawing near, and I will look forward 
to seeing as many of you as can make it there. If you have not yet 
registered for the conference or made a hotel reservation I encourage 
you to do so as soon as possible. Due to the growth of interest and 
attendance at our conferences we are this year meeting at a hotel in 
an urban area, and we have to meet the minimum occupancy with which 
we are able to use its meeting rooms - if we do not meet that 
occupancy rate then we'll have to increase the registration fees, to 
cover additional cost of the meeting rooms. I appreciate everyone's 
support of the conference and of AoIR.

2.1.3  While on the topic of support, I would like to thank Nancy 
Baym for stepping in for me the last few weeks. I would also like to 
thank the AoIR executive committee for continuing its work while I 
had to step aside for a time.

2.2 Vice President (Baym)

2.2.1 Nothing to report.


2.3 Secretary (Bunz)

2.3.1 July 16 - August 11, 2003:
This month on the executive list:
.	The exec is finalizing its decision on the t-shirt design
contest.
.	The exec finalized the email calling members to vote. Elections
have been completed. Votes were counted by Jennifer Stromer-Galley, and
winners have been notified. The new exec will be introduced at the
general meeting at the Toronto conference.
.	Together with Liss Jeffrey, the exec decided on free conference
registration for conference volunteer helpers.
.	The exec continues to discuss extensively various conference
details (incl. registration, program issues, scheduling of meetings,
etc.), and financial issues. We urge conference attendees to stay at the
conference hotel as otherwise, AoIR will have to pay for the conference
facilities.

Ulla Bunz, Secretary

2.4 Treasurer (Bates)

2.4.1 Keeping up with memberships, renewals, and conference registrations.
Removed early registration and added preconference workshops to the
Conference Kagi site.  Working with Toronto folks and Nancy on budget
and onsite registration concerns.


2.5 Open Seats (Silver, Wellman)

2.5.1 Silver: Nothing to report.

2.5.2 Wellman: Securing volunteers and advising them for the AoIR 
annual meeting in
Toronto.


2.6 Appointed Seats (Allen, Shade)

2.6.1 Allen: Been doing more conference stuff; primarily finalising 
the program,
organising student prize submissions, working with Liss on information flows
for program presentation.

2.6.2 Shade: Nothing to report.


2.7 Student Seat (Klastrup)

2.7.1 Been working on organising a graduate student assembly at the Toronto
conference, in collaboration with the new graduate student representative
Leslie Tkach Kawasaki.


2.8 Publications Officers (Hunsinger, Breindahl)

2.8.1 Hunsinger: well, I've been slacking off a bit, as the elections 
occurred, i did some member stuff, and i worked on some member 
things.   Note to all people that are used to faster responses from 
me(oh you know, 1 minute, 1 hour, 1 day max, etc.), until further 
notice, i may be delayed in responding because I'm moving into the 
official stages of dissertation, so beyond my usual 40 or so hours a 
week in my usual work, I'm occupied by writing:(  So sometimes, and I 
apologize for this, you may have to wait a few days before i respond 
to some things.

2.8.2 Breindahl:  I have been on vacation most of the last month. I 
still monitor our lists, though, usually checking for mail and new 
subscriptions a couple of times per day. Jeremy has created new spam 
filters, which happily catch most of the junk mail.


2.9 2003 Conference (Liss Jeffrey, Chair; Matthew Allen, David 
Mitchell, Program Co-Chairs)

2.9.1 Dr Liss Jeffrey: No report.

2.9.2 Mitchell: No report.


2.10  AoIR Ethics Working Group (Charles Ess, Chair)

2.10.1 The ethics committee has engaged in some discussion of a case study that
came to our attention this past spring, one raising important questions as
to what constitutes 'harm' in an online context, and who is responsible for
identifying and, if necessary, mitigating potential harms.
The case study and our responses to it will be included in the upcoming
Preconference workshop on Internet research ethics, October 15, as part of
AoIR 4.0 in Toronto.
Most of the workshop program is in place.  If anyone is interested in a more
complete description of the program (to compliment the one on the conference
website), please contact Charles Ess <cmess at drury.edu>.

Steve and I continue to receive the occasional query regarding specific
ethical issues encountered by researchers in the course of their work.  We
are more than happy to respond to these queries as we can.
And as chair of the ethics committee, I would especially encourage AoIR
members to bring such queries to the committee's attention, along with any
other observations and suggestions regarding online research ethics that you
care to offer.   Your queries and suggestions are among the most important
resources for our continued work on Internet research ethics.



2.11 AoIR Research Annual Working Group (Mia Consalvo, Chair)

2.11.1 The first volume of the research annual has gone into 
production with the publisher, and page proofs should be forthcoming 
sometime in September. An announcement about the second annual and 
guidelines for submitting papers for consideration to it will be 
circulated to aoir members shortly.


2.12 AoIR Net Resources Working Group (Charlie Breindahl, Chair)

2.12.1 There has been no activity in the 'Net WG.