[Air-l] the next executive and the future of aoir

[Ulla Bunz]

I'd like to tag on to Jeremy's statement. I was a local (and a grad student) during
the first AoIR conference in Lawrence, Kansas. I'm now finishing my fourth year as
AoIR's secretary, and it's been an incredible experience.
I first ran for secretary upon Nancy Baym's urging, and I was pretty surprised when
I actually won. Surprised and flattered. I was also a little awed to be sitting at
the same table as "famous" people like Steve Jones and Barry Wellman, for example,
and have them listen to my input. And not just when I yelled, "Fire, fire," and
poured a water pitcher out over the napkin one of the exec's had accidentally
dropped on a burning candle...

In all seriousness, serving as the secretary was very rewarding. Yes, you have to be
somewhat organized and there are occasional reports to be written, or archives to be
perused to remind the exec of the flow of discussion on an issue. But on the upside,
I feel that I have made friends with the exec members of both my terms. I have also
met a lot of other people via email which has helped making face to face
connections. I'm still at the beginning of my career, and this has been a fun and
easy way of networking. I've learned a tremendous amount about organizational
processes and decision making, gained experience in policy as well as editorial
issues, was exposed to financial considerations, and could see people's enthusiasm
and ideas blossom into reality.

At times our discussions on the exec listserve are quite animated (if not to say,
heated), and there are a lot of issues that not everyone agrees on, though we all
have very good arguments to support our opinions. The conference locations for 2006
and beyond are a great example. Should we try to reach out more and take our
conference to locations in different countries/continents to attract new audiences?
Should we go for popular destinations? Should we be financially cautious and stick
with places that have worked for us before? How much should visa issues influence
our decisions? Or the different academic-year schedules around the world? If I'm
against a particular location, is that for organizational reasons, or is that maybe
my personal preference shining through? Is a particular location good for next year,
or maybe the year afterwards? Well, I could keep going, but you're getting my point.
It's exciting, and complex, and it actually affects a lot of people.

You can be part of shaping the direction of AoIR through location, choice of
conference chairs and themes, and - if you're running for an open seat - projects.
So, in my opinion, you should run (or nominate someone) especially if you think that
AoIR could be improved. Your ideas are what will drive us forward.

Ulla



-- 
Ulla Bunz
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication
Rutgers University
4 Huntington Street
New Brunswick, NJ 08901