This clarification and explanation is very clear and very sensible. I had
forgotten that the convocation was so late, and could indeed prevent the
award winners from getting well-deserved congratulations and recognition.
I still think, however, that any posting of the award winners should be as
close to the presentation as possible, perhaps when the conference opens
or when the exhibits open? with a nice splashy poster somewhere near the
exhibit entrance? and inclusion on the VRA website could be delayed to
after the presentation itself.
Helen Chillman
Yale University
On Tue, 20 Mar 2007, Barbara Prior wrote:
> 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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>
__________________________________________________________________
Mail submissions to [log in to unmask]
For information about joining ARLIS/NA see:
http://www.arlisna.org/join.html
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to [log in to unmask]
ARLIS-L Archives and subscription maintenance:
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