June 21, 2002
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
Present: Prasanna
Baragi (group meeting), Gamin Bartle, Claire Bartlett, Cindy Bravo, Lynne
Crandall, Monika Dressler, Samantha Earp, Cindy Evans, Harold Hendricks, Read
Gilgen, Marlene Johnshoy, Teresa Johnson, Ute Lahaie, Peter Liddell, Philomena
Meechan, David Pankratz, Reid Paxton, Bruce Parkhurst, Lauren Rosen, Andrew
Ross, Jeff Samuels, Barbara Sawhill, Georgia Schlau, Jan Stewart, Jörg Waltje,
Sara Wilson
IALLT'03 Planning
David provided an overview of the day's activities, and thanked the Council for
understanding the late start due to the soccer game. He introduced Monika Dressler, IALLT '03 host, and turned the
meeting over to her.
§
General Schedule
o
Monika noted there were various
milestones for which timing would be important, including the Call for
Proposals; deadline for Proposal Submission; information to Program Committee;
decisions from Program Committee and on to web site; Registration; Dorms, to
name a few.
o
Monika outlined her plan for the
morning and asked the Council to begin reflecting on the issues surrounding
IALLT 2003 planning.
o
Monika solicited feedback on the theme "Connecting
with a Diverse World" and received positive responses.
o
Monika stated we must reflect on how
many total and concurrent sessions we want and at what times we want to start
and end each day. She announced the
dinner would be Thursday due to the unavailability of suitable facilities.
§
David explained to the Council that the Board changed the conference event flow
to a single mid-conference dinner to facilitate attendance by a majority of
attendees, at which time offices would change incumbents. He noted a reception would be held the night
before the official start of the conference, and the post-conference buffet and
party would still occur.
o
Barbara inquired about regional lunch
locations. Monika explained we would be
in the same building but each region would have a separate room.
o
Lauren asked about the timing of the Council
meeting. David indicated the meeting
would likely be held Wednesday afternoon.
o
There was discussion of the incorporation requirements
for the annual business meeting. David
clarified that the Thursday night dinner will constitute the Annual Business
Meeting, during which the state of the organization will be addressed and
inauguration of the new Board undertaken.
o
Monika asked the Council to send her
comments about their local stay, including transportation, airport, hotel,
logistics, etc. so that Michigan can better plan for the conference.
o
Cindy Bravo relayed Ed Dente's request that the
pub-crawl event be continued.
o
Bruce noted there was interest in physical
activities. Suggestions included a
walking group, visiting the Arboretum, biking, boating and baseball. A request was made that the baseball game not occur on Tuesday; Friday
was suggested as a more desirable day.
Monika mentioned there are three possible baseball venues: the Detroit
Tigers, as well as two minor league teams the Toledo Mudhens and Lansing
Lugnuts.
o
Monika informed the group that the
Michigan LRC staff planned regular meetings and would be working with timelines
to keep planning on track.
o
Monika explained that due to Michigan's computing
environment, particular login requirements will be necessary for IALLT
2003. She noted the process would be
somewhat different than that used for the SLM. To address the access issue, the U-Mich team will make this part
of the registration process. Advance
registrants will receive a uniqname as part of the pre-registration process
which will provide full access to all UM computing sites.
§
Monika suggested that as campuses institute greater
computing security measures it is likely something we should think about for
future conferences as well.
§
Bruce wondered what happens to the people who don't
register in advance and receive a uniqname.
Reid explained they would have the same kind of access as SLM attendees
enjoyed, that is, limited access only at the Language Resource Center.
§
This fostered a discussion of the number of attendees
who generally register in advance.
Claire noted only about one third of the conference participants used
advance registration at IALLT '01.
§
Moni explained we were also considering providing a
"printing" room, and that we would have them focus on conference
needs.
§
Marlene asked if generic id's were possible. Reid explained the U-Mich environment and
the limited access the LRC would be able to provide late registrants.
§
Teresa suggested including the information regarding
consequences for later registration in conference promotional information.
o
Samantha inquired about presenters
bringing their own equipment/computers.
Reid explained for presentation purposes this would not be a problem;
each presentation room would have projection and Internet capability. However, for general use on campus it will
not be possible.
§
Claire wondered about DHCP server. Reid explained that our network is not a
universal network and we may need to configure machines manually. Reid and Jan spoke about the varying state
of system environments.
o
Monika suggested extra attention and time, be allocated
prior to proposal acceptance, to ascertain appropriate software and hardware is
available.
o
Claire related that with respect to installing
software, many presenters did not give advance notice of software needs. She expressed particular need to ensure that
people understand the hardware and software issues.
o
Bruce noted the Technical Committee will be involved in
reviewing proposals to ascertain technical do-ability.
o
Ute suggested incentives be provided for advance
registration and thorough provision of technical specifications.
o
To make IALLT 2003 an attractive conference option for
many reasons, and particularly to encourage international guests to attend; a
real goal is to contain costs as much as possible, and to include as much as
possible in the registration fees.
o
David noted that in the final analysis, lodging is
generally the most expensive thing.
o
The question of where does the conference stand as a
moneymaking venture for IALLT arose.
David noted this is a policy issue; IALLT has never reaped any profit
from the conference. Profits and
potential losses have fallen to the conference host. Lynne noted the negative revenue risk is entirely on the host,
while profit sharing is tempting to the organization due to financial needs.
o
David explained the purpose of the $1000 conference
start-up seed money for the host. The
Board wondered if that amount was sufficient, and additionally, whether it
should be given as a loan rather than a contribution.
o
Lynne noted one potential gray area is
that attendees could be members when they register but have lapsed memberships
at the time of the conference.
o
Monika described her hope that sponsors for a number of
events would be secured.
o
Monika listed several possible keynote speakers the
staff had been considering.
o
Monika informed the group that consideration of special
events, family options, and local flavor choices were part of the planning
process. She noted the "Top of the
Park" festivities in particular as a casual entertainment possibility for
all conference attendees.
Recorded by Bruce Parkhurst, for Lynne Crandall.
o
Marlene observed that there are those of us who do not
wish to be in a leadership position -- with the spotlight on us -- but we look
to leaders to put us to work; getting the work done is our contribution.
o
Sara responded with a quote attributed to Mario Andretti,
"If everything is under control, you are not going fast enough."
o Andrew
stated that worrying about a large institution, especially when computers are
involved is like worrying about a large gorilla, especially when it on fire.
o Read
suggested if you are not living on the edge, you are taking up too much room.
Lynne resumed recording.
o
They also recommended removal of any contribution
minimums and suggested members making donations take advantage of matching
contribution opportunities.
o
Discussion focused on who would initiate such reminders
and how that might be implemented.
o
The Secretary could initially generate a monthly diary
for Board and Council tasks, with follow-up conducted by responsible Board
members.
o
Bruce suggested that before the NERALLD Shareware
Session become an official monograph, additional queries about teaching with
technology go out on LLTI to get a broader base of activities for inclusion in
such a monograph.
o
Read wondered if there is a timeline for production and
who is responsible.
o
Peter stated that as we move to the next level of
professionalism we need to identify the when and the what as we undertake
initiatives. He asserted any new
monographs would be fall under the stewardship of the President-Elect.
Timelines established for the LCDK and MM could also be applied to Monograph
publications.
o
Lynne suggested the Shareware Session
Monograph might need to be available online for full appreciation of the
possibilities. Lauren reflected that K-12 users might need a print version.
o
David asked for clarification of the
recommendation: is this a new
initiative for additional publications?
Peter affirmed this was accurate, and that two authors had been identified. He suggested the Board discuss practicality
and desirability.
o
JNCL affiliation was not discussed in
detail.
§
The Board (via Harold) should ascertain what benefits
membership in JNCL offers us. Harold
will contact Bettina Myers, Chris Higgins, Ed Dixon and Bob Fischer for input.
o
IALLT should explore coordination with other affiliates
regarding conference schedules.
o
Regional groups should examine possible local
affiliations.
§
Based on past analysis, the average cost to put on a
conference is $100,000.
§
The group recommended a written report or spreadsheet
be required of the host, relying on the goodwill of the host for completeness.
§
Seed money should be kept as a line item for planning
and start-up costs, to be returned not later than 12 months before the next
conference.
o
The group recommended establishment of a conference
development fund, with an initial line amount of $5000, earmarked for projects
or initiatives to further the development of conference projects or needs. Examples of initiatives that might draw on
these funds are the database-web package, promotional materials, hosting fees,
stipends for local participation, or fund stipends for IALLT's graduate student
scholarship.
o
The amount given back to the fund should increase over
time.
§
IALLT needs to establish a mechanism by which funds can
be returned to the organization without individual institutions balking (or
denying on procedural grounds) to return funds to the conference.
o
Funds could be requested by the future host as needed.
o
The group considered a return of a percentage of funds,
but decided on a flat $5000 minimum to be safe.
o
Lynne expressed concern about the host
taking a loss but Moni and Bruce felt this risk could be alleviated by building
the return into the regular conference budget.
§
The group explained that as Reid Paxton would not be
present for the last day of the meeting, focus was wholly on examination of the
IALLT website.
§
A number of "fine tuning" changes were
suggested.
o
Move IALLT Journal up one level.
o
Provide multiple access points after putting things
where we thought made the most sense.
o
Change "Articles of Incorporation" to
"Official Documents." All
official organizational and governance documents could be in this area.
§
Vendor Opportunities
o
The group suggested providing an overview of options
available to vendors. Information about
advertising, conference exhibiting, address label purchasing, or a media kit
could all be accessible from the one location.
o
Links to exhibitors at the past conference could also
be placed here as a service to the membership and an incentive to vendors.
§
Peter asked if we could limit access to specific areas;
Read confirmed this was correct.
§
The Board and Council authorized Reid
to publish the new website.
§
Reid will send the Council
specifications for submitting images.
§
David thanked attendees for their hard work. He reminded the group the final day would
include some time for concluding group work but the majority of the final
session would be devoted to entertaining motions.
§
David noted that several groups had concluded their
work and those members would join other continuing groups in their
discussions. In addition, he will offer
a "Meet with the President" session, starting at 9am for those
members who desire it.
Meeting Adjourned
5:37pm EDT
Respectfully Submitted,
Lynne A. Crandall