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

[Steve Jones]

February 18, 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
2002 Conference Coordinator: Monica Murero
2002 Conference Program Chair: Klaus Bruhn Jensen
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 I spent a marvelous few days in Toronto last week, meeting with 
our 2003 conference organizers, and I'm pleased to see that the 
planning for the conference is full-steam ahead. I stayed at the 
conference hotel, in fact (the Hilton in downtown Toronto) and was 
impressed not only with its meeting facilities and reasonable room 
rates (regardless of the strength of the US dollar against the 
Canadian one, for a downtown hotel in a major urban area it is a good 
deal) but also impressed with the reasonable rates ($10 CAD) for high 
speed Internet access in the rooms. The hotel is very near numerous 
restaurants, cafes, clubs and music venues, shopping areas. In short, 
the venue will be first-rate, and the organizers are making great 
progress! Registration for the conference will soon be open, in the 
meantime please send in your submissions for presentation, ideas for 
pre-conference workshops, and encourage your colleagues and others to 
consider submitting and attending the conference. Feel free, of 
course, to pass along the call for papers.

You will see below in Ulla's report that the AoIR executive committee 
has had good discussion and voted on election related matters (thanks 
to the elections working group!). We will be implementing the changes 
voted upon very soon, as we announce the opening of nominations and 
schedule for elections. I wish to thank the members of the executive 
committee for taking this work very seriously and putting 
considerable effort into it.

And last, but not least, the executive committee, at my instigation, 
has discussed the matter of a dues increase, and has passed 
unanimously (11/11) a small increase in dues that I proposed. The 
increases will be only to two categories, professional mebership and 
graduate student membership, increasing them to $45 and $30 (USD) 
respectively. In short, without a dues increase, we will be unable to 
do the things many are clamoring for (journal, publications, 
conference subsidies, etc.). It is also necessary to plan ahead for 
contingencies such as no longer having the good graces of a 
university that will host our web site and server. I will next take 
the proposed increase to the membership for a vote.


2.2 Vice President (Baym)

2.2.1 Nothing of particular significance to report. Just the usual 
thinking ahead and participating in discussions summarized elsewhere.


2.3 Secretary (Bunz)

2.3.1 I have spent much time counting votes and keeping discussions on various
issues organized and summarized (see below; we made some important
decisions). Of course, I also contributed to these discussions.

January 13 - February 12, 2003
This month on the executive list:
.	The executive committee has completed its discussion of the
election committee report. We have voted on each of the seven
recommendations. More information will be made available on how certain
changes will be instituted, but here is a brief summary of the
recommendations:

Recommendation a) publicize election policies (listserve, handout,
website)
  - Result: we accept the recommendation (8/11) and will create/edit the
election policies and then publish them

Recommendation b) provide candidate info based on questions provided by
election committee
  - Result: we accept the recommendation (8/11) and will provide a space on
our website for candidates to post their answers

Recommendation c) running for one seat only
  - Result: we accept the recommendation (6/11) and will add this to our
election policies

Recommendation d) keep nominating candidates as is (self or others can
nominate)
  - Result: we accept the recommendation (8/11) (meaning: we will make no
changes to our nominating procedures); one committee member would like
to have noted his strong objection to this recommendation as he strongly
favors the creation of a nominating committee

Recommendation e) adopt preferential/weighted voting
  - Result: after intense discussion, we reject the recommendation (6/11)
and will not adopt a preferential voting system at this point; the
voting system will stay as is

Recommendation f) asynchronous candidate forum (to answer questions
pertinent to seat)
  - Result: we accept the recommendation (8/11) and will create an online
space for this

Recommendation g) create divisions to allow more member involvement
  - Result: we reject the recommendation (8/11) and will not create
divisions at this point

.	The executive committee has discussed a host proposal for the
2004 conference and is overall very excited about this particular site
and the people who proposed to host the 2004 conference. We are
currently awaiting more information from the site. We also have two
sites who have communicated interest in hosting the conference for 2005,
though no formal proposals have been submitted yet.
.	The executive committee shared examples of AoIR's reach into
even more countries and disciplines. We are excited to attract more and
more people from more and more countries and create research bonds that
overcome language and cultural barriers.


2.4 Treasurer (Bates)

2.4.1 No report.


2.5 Open Seats (Silver, Wellman)

2.5.1 Silver: I've been active on the listserv, discussing a number 
of issues including election processes and possible affiliations.

2.5.2 Wellman: I continue liasing on the October Internet Research conference
between the Toronto Working Committee, the Toronto Steering Committee
(which I chair), AOIR, and KMDI (local research institute which is
supporting conference.) The Toronto Steering Committee had a good 
meeting recently.


2.6 Appointed Seats (Allen, Shade)

2.6.1 Allen: No report.

2.6.2 Shade: Nothing to report .


2.7 Student Seat (Klastrup)

2.7.1 Nothing to report. Voted. (busy finishing my dissertation, due 
around March
1st!)


2.8 Publications Officers (Hunsinger, Breindahl)

2.8.1 Hunsinger: January's time was spent on the submission and 
review process.  There was discussion on the elections discussion 
also.  Other than that, I have a bit more programming to do on the 
review system, which is a separate program from the submission 
system, but everything looks good to go.

2.8.2 Breindahl: I still spend a few hours each week reading 
everybody's e-mail. We get a lot of spam and such-like these days. 
Major changes to the AoIR site will have to wait, as I am busy with 
an imminent deadline and my dissertation. Also, as a computer games 
researcher, I have to play a few rounds of Halo now and then.


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

2.9.1 Jeffrey (with her team: Katherine Parrish, Jason Nolan, Alex 
Kuskis, and steering committee chair Barry Wellman): Nothing to 
report.

2.9.2 Mitchell: Nothing to report.


2.10  AoIR Ethics Working Group (Charles Ess, Chair)

2.10.1 No report.


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

2.11.1 No report.


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

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


------------------------------------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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