Re: [ARLIS-L] Wittenborn Award Announcement:
Explanation &
Barbara,
Why couldn't the awards be announced at the beginning of
the conference with a special display in the registration area, where
everyone would see it? Make it a special event to kick off the
conference. This way, all the congratulatory things you mentioned
below could be accomplished during the course of the conference (book
signings, introductions, publisher table announcements, etc.). The
convocation presentation would then hold the official and more formal
ceremony mid-way through the conference.
I'm not sure that the "secret" aspect of the awards
announcement at the convocation is really that important (that is my
personal opinion anyway). My suggestion would still keep the
announcement at the conference, and provide two congratulatory
opportunities.
I think people were reacting more to the fact that what occurred
this year was the announcement to ARLIS-L, which seemed rather mundane
compared to the obvious importance attached to the award and previous
ceremonies .
John
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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--
John J. Taormina
Director, Visual Resources Center
Dept. of Art, Art History & Visual Studies
Duke University
Box 90764
112 East Duke Building
Durham NC 27708-0764
Ph: 919-684-2501
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http://www.duke.edu/web/art/
"The spice must flow."
-Frank Herbert,
Dune
__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
For information about joining ARLIS/NA see:
http://www.arlisna.org/join.html
Send administrative matters (file requests, subscription requests, etc)
to [log in to unmask]
ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance:
http://lsv.uky.edu/archives/arlis-l.html
Questions may be addressed to list owner (Judy Dyki) at: [log in to unmask]