Dear AoIR-ists, Those of you who attended the Annual General Membership (AGM) meeting during Internet Research (IR) 9.0 last October in Copenhagen (thanks again, Lisbeth, Brian, & Co!) will remember that our stalwart Treasurer, Monica Murero, reported that AoIR had achieved a strong and stable financial state - leading us to the very important question: how do we make the best use of our available funds so as to best benefit AoIR members? I'm very pleased to announce that one of our first responses to this central concern is a new fee waiver policy. Briefly, we will fund up to three IR conference fee waivers for those who have much to contribute to an annual Internet Research conference, but whose financial situation will otherwise prevent their attending. As you can see by the policy guidelines (complete version below), these fee waivers are designed to directly expand the diversity of viewpoints, cultures, etc. represented at our IR conferences. (Long-time members of AoIR, in particular, will recognize here an effort to address a concern driving the organization since its inauguration, i.e., how to foster and collect Internet-focused research and scholarship across a genuinely global range of perspectives and cultures - in part, by encouraging participation and representation from those countries and cultures whose scholars and researchers face the most severe financial limitations?) This information will also be posted on the AoIR and IR 10.0 websites soonest. In closing, and at the risk of highlighting a U.S.-centric perspective, I cannot help but observe the happy accident that we are able to announce this policy on the day that we in the U.S. are celebrating the inauguration of a new President. What many of us in the U.S. anticipate to be a new spirit of inclusion, openness, and striving for greater equality here and abroad is clearly resonant with AoIR's modest but significant step towards greater inclusion and diversity in the form of this fee waiver. On that happy thought - happy inauguration day! - c. President, Association of Internet Researchers <www.aoir.org> Co-Editor, International Journal of Internet Research Ethics http://ijire.uwm.edu Co-chair, CATaC conferences <www.catacconference.org> Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23 ==> Fee Waiver Policy In order to increase the diversity of participation in the AoIR annual Internet Research (IR) conferences, the Association of Internet Researchers will make available up to three conference fee waivers per year. The number of fee waivers will depend first of all upon the ability of the conference budget to sustain such waivers (a judgment to be made by the AoIR Executive Committee upon the advice of the AoIR Treasurer and the local organizing committee) as well as upon the quality of the applications for fee waivers. Applications for fee waivers are invited from student or faculty authors whose paper or panel proposals have already been accepted via the AoIR IR conference reviewing process. All applications should be directed to the Vice-President of AoIR, and must be received by June 30 of the conference year. Late applications cannot be considered. Applications should be no longer than 2 pages, and must include the following information: 1) A brief description of how the author's presentation or contribution to the AoIR IR conference will uniquely articulate and/or represent a distinctive perspective (e.g., of persons and/or cultures) otherwise unlikely to be represented at the annual AoIR Internet Research conference. 2) An explanation of the author's distinctive circumstances that would warrant a fee waiver. These may include, but are by no means limited to: exceptionally limited financial resources (e.g., as a graduate student or scholar in a non-OECD country, as a disabled person on a limited income, etc.); exceptional limits on institutional support otherwise normally available (e.g., travel funds, grant funds, etc.); other exceptional circumstances that render the usual AoIR IR conference fees an insurmountable obstacle to attending the IR conference in order to present one's own work. Applicants may also include a letter of support from someone familiar with her / his circumstances, special needs, etc. Such a letter is optional, however, not a requirement. Applications will be reviewed by the AoIR Executive Committee. Fee waivers will be awarded on the basis of the Executive Committee's collective judgment as to which presentations will make the most distinctive contribution to the AoIR IR conference. In order to respect and protect the privacy of the applicants, all Executive Committee discussions and deliberations of fee waiver applications will be held in strict confidence. The AoIR Executive Committee regretfully acknowledges that there will be more fully meritorious applications than we will be able to award and support. Nonetheless we hope that awarded fee waivers will not only assist deserving scholars and researchers, but also thereby enrich the AoIR IR conferences in important new ways. Approved by the AoIR Executive Committee, 20 November 2008