Hi all, I know it's a very busy time of year, but I wanted to pass on to you a bit of an update from the new Executive Committee. In addition to some of the usual sorts of things taken up by the Executive Committee (e.g., listserv and membership management questions, whether or not we should pursue the suggestion of several members to start our own journal, etc.), we have spent quite some time since Vancouver on the following items: 1. AoIR 2008 / Internet Research 9.0, Copenhagen, Denmark, 15 - Planning continues apace, with Lisbeth Kastrup as chair of the Local Organizing Committee, and Brian Loader, Program Chair. We anticipate an expanded CFP to come out before 21. December or so, along with affiliated website, including accommodation information, etc. (Our solstice gift ...) Also: look for an announcement soon - watch this space! - for a conference on Website histories, affiliated with AoIR 2008 / IR 9.0, at Aarhus University: double your pleasure and professional engagements when coming to Denmark next Fall for AoIR! 2. As Åsa Rosenberg, our new Graduate Student representative, notes below, there is work to be done on redesigning the AoIR web site. In other news: look for the next Newsletter soon! == The Executive Committee for 2007-2009 is as follows: President - Charles Ess Vice-President - Mia Consalvo Treasurer - Monica Murero Secretary - Sabyrna Cornish Graduate Student - Asa Rosenberg Open Seats (3) - Axel Bruns, Heidi Campbell, Marcus Foth Past President - Matthew Allen Systems Officers (2) - Alex Halavais, Holly Kruse Here is what we hope will be a helpful introduction to your new Executive Committee: _______________________________________________ MATTHEW ALLEN (PAST PRESIDENT) Matthew Allen has been taking a break from day to day engagement with AoIR affairs prior to commencing a review of the AoIR by-laws. Email: <M.Allen@exchange.curtin.edu.au> _______________________________________________ MIA CONSALVO (VICE-PRESIDENT) I am the new VP for AoIR, and after a bit of a rest from the recent conference, I'm ready to dive into exec work. I'm currently teaching in the School of Telecommunications at Ohio University, and I'm co-editing (with Charles Ess and Robert Burnett) the Blackwell Handbook of Internet Studies, and also writing about fashion in MMOGs. For the immediate term I want to familiarize myself with the aoir-exec, and begin planning for the 2009 AoIR conference. Mia Consalvo <consalvo@ohio.edu> _______________________________________________ MONICA MURERO (TREASURER) Monica continues her close and much appreciated attention to matters of budget and membership, with a view towards insuring that AoIR remains financially sound. email: <murero@eircom.net> _______________________________________________ SABRYNA CORNISH (SECRETARY) I have been working with Matt on getting the membership into a workable document to make it easier to determine who the members are and also help facilitate renewals when necessary. I have been putting the notes together from the exec meetings at the conference and also have been working on a media kit for the AoIR that can go to the news media and general public. Sabryna Cornish Assistant professor of journalism Department of communication Northern Illinois University Email: <a135672@wpo.cso.niu.edu> _______________________________________________ ÅSA ROSENBERG (GRADUATE STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE) Hi, my main undertaking is trying to get http://www.aoir.org rebuilt so that it better suits the current needs of the organization. This will probably take some time, but next on my list is to try to establish a stable communication channel for grad students. The Grad student mailing list is open at this time and all grads are more then welcome to join and post to it. http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-grad-aoir.org -asa Department of Sociology Göteborg University, Sweden <asa.rosenberg@sociology.gu.se> _______________________________________________ MARCUS FOTH (OPEN SEAT) I have been on the executive of AoIR for just over a month now and it has been a steep learning curve in many aspects. I think it is good to get a few new pairs of fresh eyes to look at established things and sometimes question things in order to check if there are opportunities to improve on what we've achieved so far. That is at least one of my goals. I'm also excited to work with my fellow 'executers' to focus on AoIR as a member-based support network and explore new ideas and new ways to enable members to network and collaborate. Marcus Foth Institute for Creative Industries and Innovation Queensland University of Technology (CRICOS No. 00213J) Creative Industries Precinct, Brisbane QLD 4059, Australia m.foth@qut.edu.au - http://www.vrolik.de/publications/ _______________________________________________ AXEL BRUNS (OPEN SEAT) I'm a Senior Lecturer in the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. I'm particularly interested in AoIR maintaining and expanding its international reach (without losing its strong support base in North America and Europe) and building an even stronger sense of collegiality across our membership. Of course the conferences are one key to this, and as chair of the 2006 conference I'm keen to use that experience to support the planning for Copenhagen in October 2008, and the development of our conference schedule for the years beyond. -- Dr Axel Bruns http://snurb.info/ Senior Lecturer, Media & Communication a.bruns@qut.edu.au Creative Industries Faculty, Z2-202, CIP Skype: LexaSnurb Queensland University of Technology +61 7 3138 5548 Musk Ave, Kelvin Grove, Qld. 4059, Australia CRICOS No.: 00213J _______________________________________________ HEIDI CAMPBELL (OPEN SEAT) Howdy, I work at the home of the fighting Texas Aggies as an Assistant Professor of Communication in Media Studies (Whoop!). I'm still learning the ropes of the executive after my first month on board and am staying active in our discussions of AoIR business as well as my involvement in the AoIR Ethics Working Group. I am looking forward to helping develop AoIR's networking and international profile. Assistant Professor Department of Communication Texas A&M University College Station TX 77843-4234 (email) heidic@tamu.edu (web) http://comm.tamu.edu/people/profiles/campbell.html _______________________________________________ HOLLY KRUSE - LIST MANAGER I'm Holly Kruse, assistant professor of communication at the University of Tulsa, list manager for air-l and air-exec, and the reason why Axel has only just joined us. Sorry! I've been doing the usual thing of approving air-l subscriptions after receiving brief bios from potential subscribers (and sometimes investigating a bit further), helping subscribers with subscription issues, and dissuading people who do executive searches online and think subscribing to air-l might provide them with some sort of professional organizational certification (???) from subscribing to the list (the last is a recent phenomenon.) Holly -- Holly Kruse Faculty of Communication The University of Tulsa 600 S. College Ave. Tulsa, OK 74104 918-631-3845 holly-kruse@utulsa.edu or holly.kruse@gmail.com http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~holly-kruse _______________________________________________ ALEX HALAVAIS (SYSTEMS OFFICER) I'm Alex Halavais, and I teach in the Interactive Communication program at Quinnipiac University. I am taking on a second term in this position. Generally, I hope to simplify some of the (too) complicated processes that require systems support, and look for small, high-value ways of leveraging our systems. Much of that role is supporting active members of the AoIR community who are working on projects that have some computing component. I'll be supporting groups who are developing the new aoir.org website, as well as those who are working on our support for Copenhagen. If you have a project you want to work on for the benefit of AoIR, please let me know, and I can try to put you in touch with others who share your interests. // Alexander C. Halavais // Social Architect // http://alex.halavais.net _______________________________________________ CHARLES ESS (PRESIDENT) Mostly, I've been working on keeping up with these very busy folk - along with groundwork and organizational matters for the AoIR 2008 / IR 9.0 and affiliated conferences. _______________________________________________ As you can see (if you've read this far, that is), AoIR is moving forward in good ways, both as we review and revise some of our foundations (website, by-laws, membership system, conference management software) and as we expand our offerings and services to our members. For example, this year begins an affiliation with the journal Information, Communication & Society, which will publish the first AoIR special issue, made up of selected papers from AoIR 2007 / IR 8.0 (thanks, Barry Wellman, Carolyn Haythornthwaite, and Mia Consalvo!) - and next year's AoIR 2008 / IR 9.0 conference will feature not only the marvelous facilities of IT-University and Copenhagen University (along with the delights of Copenhagen itself) - but also an affiliated conference that will significantly enhance participants' understanding and enjoyment. We hope - and trust - that your engagement with AoIR will continue to be both professionally beneficial and personally rewarding. Happy holidays! - c. Guest Professor (fall, 2007), Department of Media Studies IT Park Helsingforsgade 14 8200 Aarhus N Denmark Office: (45) 8942 9219 Mobile: (45) 2986 8967 Distinguished Research Professor, Global Studies Center <http://www.drury.edu/gp21> Drury University Springfield, MO 65802 USA President, Association of Internet Researchers <www.aoir.org> Co-Editor, International Journal of Internet Research Ethics http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/SOIS/cipr/ijire.html Co-chair, CATaC conferences <www.catacconference.org> Professor II, Globalization and Applied Ethics Programmes <http://www.anvendtetikk.ntnu.no/pres/bridgingcultures.php> Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23