[Air-l] AOIR organization

[Jeremy Hunsinger]

Just back from teaching, I want to thank people for the kind words,  
but also I want to say that there were a ton of people that helped  
out with that first conference both at Kansas and virtually that will  
have my continual gratitude.  The volunteers at that first conference  
helped set the standard in my mind for what AoIR can be in terms of  
interdisciplinarily, internationally and collegially.   The ongoing  
spirit of collaboration, collegiality and mutual support goes back to  
the tone established by those early AoIR participants with Steve and  
Nancy standing out, but there are many,  many others, involved in  
AoIR, some served on exec, but many more have served as conference  
chairs, reviewers, session chairs, working group members, and have  
done all kinds of jobs.   I know that the work that Ben Bates,  
Charlie Breindahl and Ulla Bunz was immense by any normal standard  
and they will always have my gratitude (amongst many) for the work  
they did.    The organization... is the members, and the members do  
the work, and they make the organization great.

The founding story of AoIR in my mind is two fold... there is the  
canonical print story, which is well published.  Then there is the  
perpetual refounding... when we help the next young scholar, when we  
point someone to a different resource, when we make a difference in  
someone's life, that is building a foundation.  AoIR is its members,  
and each member, contributing and participating in the spirit of the  
organization, in part... continues to found it.