Hello everyone,
Please let me offer a clarification and an explanation about the Wittenborn
announcement.
The Clarification:
The award presentation will still take place at the Convocation as in past
years. To quote Terrie Wilson's original email:
>> please try to attend the conference convocation on Sunday,
>> April 29th, to hear and see a substantive presentation honoring the
>> award-winning texts.
The Explanation:
As the 2005 Wittenborn chair I recommended to Terrie Wilson (2006 chair),
the Awards Chair (Daniel Starr) and the Executive Committee that the
announcement be made before the Convocation. There were two reasons I made
this recommendation: The Convocation takes place at the END of the
conference* and the exhibits close BEFORE the convocation.
Since the Convocation takes place at the END of the conference the non-ARLIS
winners had to keep their reason for attendance a secret the entire time.
As chair I had the privilege of escorting the non-ARLIS winners around the
Banff conference; I was saddened by all the missed opportunities to
introduce them as winners and celebrate their achievement. Instead of
hearty congratulations there were awkward moments; instead of engaging
discussions there were excuses and white lies. There has to be a better way.
Since the exhibits close BEFORE the Convocation there is no opportunity for
any promotion and celebration of the award. So, for instance, the 2005
Committee had many plans, all of which were stymied:
- We wanted to do book signings; this wasn't possible.
- We wanted to have special flyers on the tables of winning publishers;
this wasn't possible.
- We wanted to have a display of all the winning books; this wasn't
possible (we ended up have a small display by the Registration Desk; very
anti-climatic, esp. since it could only be set up for the last day).
- We wanted to have a list displayed of all the publishers who had
submitted books; this wasn't possible.
- We wanted to pass out flyers in the exhibits area promoting the award to
increase submissions; this wasn't possible.
I also love the Wittenborn "seat squeamer" announcement at the Convocation,
a highlight of the evening. Given the many lost opportunities, however, a
pre-Convocation announcement seemed the only logical answer. If you have a
better solution, please advise!
Thanks,
Barbara
Barbara Prior
Art Librarian
Oberlin College
[log in to unmask]
2005 Wittenborn Chair
*This year and last year the Convocation is Sunday night; the last sessions
are Monday.
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