Really seems to me that the virtual option is something that needs to be developed as a test, then scaled over time. Hard to imagine both running a convention AND providing wall-to-wall interactive coverage of it. I do think that Aoir should do virtual conferencing. But I don't think that it should be in the traditional conference mode. I'm thinking more of panels of people interacting with each other remotely . . . with broadcast to a larger audience . . . in sessions that are entirely virtual. Attending academic panel sessions is often deadly boring business. Watching them on TV (esp. with bandwidth and screen size limitations) is daunting. However, if the interactants are primarily in a virtual space, they have to adjust their behavior in order to enliven that space anyway . . . which then makes for a better audience experience too. I think that the group would be better off developing a model that works by doing an off-term virtual meeting or series of meetings . . . but not messing with the yearly convention at this point. The travel issues for an international/global organization are vexing. But it would be better to have a meeting one can count on than risking an entire year with a tough-duty laden, trial balloon (even if other organizations have made efforts from which we can learn). Edward Lee Lamoureux, Ph. D. Director, Multimedia Program and New Media Center Associate Professor, Speech Communication 1501 W. Bradley Bradley University Peoria IL 61625 309-677-2378 http://hilltop.bradley.edu/~ell http://gcc.bradley.edu/mm/