[Air-L] Internet Research 14.0 (2013) Call for Proposals to Host

[Alex Halavais]

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Call for Proposals to Host Internet Research 14.0 (2013)

The Executive Committee of the Association of Internet Researchers is
seeking statements of interest for hosting the annual meeting of the
Association in October of 2013. The Internet Research conference draws
an international group of researchers and practitioners to present and
discuss work at the cutting edge in understanding the social and
cultural aspects of the internet. Organizations or consortia who may
be interested in hosting the conference should contact Alex Halavais
at vp at aoir.org.

We will provide a guide to a full proposal for those invited to apply.
At this stage, we seek an indication of interest and intent. In the
past, we have held the conference in North America in odd numbered
years, though we would entertain strong proposals from venues
elsewhere in the world, both for 2013 and 2014.

Hosting AoIR provides visibility to your institution and city from
researchers from around the world, drawing a group of well known
scholars to your city during the period of the conference and
providing lasting connections. Geography still matters in an internet
age, and hosting Internet Research represents one way of locating
important centers of innovation in social computing.

The most recent conference was held in Gothenburg, Sweden
(http://ir11.aoir.org/) and the upcoming conferences will be held in
Seattle, USA (http://ir12.aoir.org) and Salford, UK. We generally seek
hosting cities that are reasonably accessible by international
visitors, and provide a range of lodging, dining, entertainment and
cultural attractions within reasonable proximity of the venue.

The venue should provide both a central hall and meeting rooms for a
minimum of 400 attendees, as well as the necessary infrastructure for
presentations and high-speed wireless internet access. There are
generally 7-8 concurrent presentation rooms over a period of 3 to 3.5
days, plus a day of 3-6 preconferences. The conference generally
provides some form of onsite refreshments during the day (snacks,
coffee, and in many cases lunch), as well as a banquet and receptions.

The Association generally handles registration, and will (with the aid
of a program chair) provide assistance with the infrastructure for the
peer review and the publication of selected papers. Members of the
AoIR Executive Committee serve on the organizing committee and are
involved closely with the planning and execution of the conference.
The local hosts are responsible for all on-site arrangements,
contracts, transportation, arrangements with local hotels or other
lodging, technology, supporting staff for the event. The hosts should
be willing and able to mobilize local support for the conference,
including volunteers, fund-raising, and cost-sharing.

Although a full proposal is not necessary, some indication of what you
could offer in terms of hosting would be appreciated. In particular:

1. Who makes up your group, who the proposed local chair would be, and
your connection to internet research and AoIR.

2. Information about the venue, including recent conferences held
there. We have, in the past, held AoIR in hotels and conference
centers, as well as university and research campuses. Please give some
indication of the layout of the facility and its proximity to lodging
and dining (including less expensive options), as well as to its
suitability for a conference like Internet Research.

3. Proposed dates. IR is generally held in early October, and usually
over a Thursday-Saturday, with pre-conferences on a Wednesday, though
there is some flexibility. It is helpful if we are able to avoid
conflicts with other major conferences of interest to attendees. If we
are unable to schedule your venue for 2013, do you expect you might
have interest in 2014?

4. What makes your city and venue particularly attractive to the
Internet Research community.
Feel free to keep your letter brief. For those sites the Executive
Committee feels are suitable for the upcoming conference, we will
provide organizers with instructions for a full proposal, and are
happy to work with them to provide a strong proposal.

The committee will review letters of interest as they are submitted,
through the end of July 2011. Questions regarding the process also
will be answered publicly at the aoir.org site.

Best,

Alex Halavais
(AoIR Vice President)

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