Re: [adhoc] every beginning...

On Apr 12, 2005, at 5:31 AM, Laszlo Hunyadi wrote:

> We need to assure that when advertising future conferences under the
> new umbrella organisation, (a) we'll make a reference to our previous
> joint conferences, (b) we'll give it a short name that is informative
> especially when the new name is still not marketable, (c) we'll do so
> with the strongest possible support of both the steering committee and
> the two executive bodies.

I agree, certainly, on (a) and (c) and I think also (b), though I'm not
sure what's meant by "when the new name is still not marketable." If
that means that people won't know "ADHO" yet, then I agree--we can't
rely on a new acronym to convey the nature of the conference broadly.

> As for (a), I think it is a requirement easy to fulfill. As for (b), I
> have made a proposal ("Humanities Computing [year], the annual
> international conference of ADHO, the Alliance of Digital Humanities
> Organisations").

I think that's a fine suggestion. I might also consider "Digital
Humanities [year]," depending on how strongly we want to tie the name
of the conference to the name of the organization.

> Although it received some positive feedback within ALLC, I think it is
> a proposal worth to discuss here as well. As for (c), we should use
> pressure of time to make decisions/proposals as comprehensive and
> widely supported as possible. Without this our steps will eventually
> prove to be hard to justify. That is why I would prefer a possibly
> full agreement within this committee - whenever it is reached - which
> is not based on absentee counts but thoughtful discussion. This is
> part of a series of functional tests which we all expect (and are all
> expected) to pass and not fail.

I am all for full agreement reached on the basis of thoughtful
discussion--it's just that this discussion does actually need to take
place. The questions we might discuss will be moot if this whole
effort fails for lack of focused participation and forward movement on
our part, and the transition process has been underway for nearly three
years now.

On that point, speaking not as Chair but as an ACH representative, I
feel obliged to point out that the perception of peril in transition is
quite a bit higher for the ACH membership, which has undergone major
changes in benefits of membership, means of becoming a member, and the
sense of control over our own destiny, than it may be for ALLC members,
for whom the same journal arrives, membership is accomplished in the
same way, and so on. The ACH needs certain basic questions (like
governance, conference protocol, etc.) to be settled, by the June AGM.
These questions were delegated to us a year ago, and if they're not
settled, it may be very difficult to persuade people that our joint
organization is actually capable of deciding things.

John

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Received on Tue Apr 12 2005 - 12:10:00 EDT