Who's Coming?

Now you see why Shelby is the perfect location for Joss in June!

See you soon!

The AHA on Live Tweeting Conferences

Vanessa Varin and Perspectives on History, the Newsmagazine of the American Historical Association, have graciously given their permission to reprint in full Ms. Varin's excellent article on live-Tweeting at academic conferences from the April 2013 issue.

From the AHA Online column in the April 2013 issue of Perspectives on History

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Navigating Twitter's Wild, Wild West
A Crowdsourced Draft of the Dos and Don'ts of Live Tweeting

By Vanessa Varin

Perspectives readers have already read my pitch for a set of live-tweeting guidelines, and I recently put forth the proposal to AHA Today readers. I asked our readers to help develop a working draft of guidelines that would help guide historians as they send out tweets about conference sessions, as those sessions are going on. Readers answered this call with a broad range of comments and advice, many of which intersect with our own Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct, including issues of privacy, attribution, and civility. These connections demonstrate why live-tweeting is not merely an issue proscribed to social media matters, but a multi-layered one that touches upon a variety of professional ethics.

Privacy

Like in many discussions related to social media, our followers covered the boundaries of a scholar's privacy at length. In many cases, a scholar being quoted on Twitter does not have a Twitter handle, and is not aware of the conversation resulting from their work. Joshua Britton (@HistoryGrad) recommended to users, "Don't tweet if the person is not on twitter and doesn't have an opportunity to see your comments." But for at least a few twitterstorians, the lack of a Twitter account does not automatically preclude a scholar from being discussed online. Kaitlin Wainwright (@hellokaitlin) disagreed with @HistoryGrad and tweeted, "Disagree. Opportunity for work to be shared and for presenter to see tweets after the fact without having an acct." Joseph Adelman agreed with Wainwright, pointing out, "Not sure about that. If presenter is aware of Twitter feed and tweets are public, can still see them. And non-Twitter use can be for variety of reasons: anti, non-tech savvy, indifferent. So shouldn't assume anti." A few twitterstorians (including me) agreed that if the scholar does have a Twitter account, is important to reference it as the user quotes the scholar. This allows the scholar to be a part of the conversation, even after the presentation is over.

These recommendations blended into an even larger question about consent: should twitterstorians gather consent from a scholar before tweeting? The AHA's annual meeting media policy requires anyone who wishes to film or make an audio recording of a session to gather permission from panelists ahead of time. Some historians are asking if tweeters should do the same. This includes Claire Potter, who requested, in a comment on AHA Today, that users to "ask people on the panel whether they agree to be tweeted. We seek out permissions for audio and video recording: why not ask people whether they wish to be 'broadcast' via Twitter?" It is an intriguing question that elicits even deeper questions about the role of social media at a conference. If etiquette dictates a tweeter should ask permission before broadcasting a panel, should a blogger do the same? Furthermore, if we ask tweeters and bloggers to ask permission, should any historian who is taking notes during the session do the same? How do we remain consistent? Potter's comment reveals how easily we can fall down the rabbit hole of ethical issues when discussing social media etiquette.

Dropping the Snark

The abundance of comments and recommendations related to basic concepts of professional conduct and civility was surprising. Many users asked me to include a reminder for tweeters to maintain a professional tone online, including @ProfessMoravec, who tweeted, "do tweet constructive criticism do resist the urge to show how clever you are." Elaine Treharne echoed this concern, with a more specific request for users to avoid commenting "on the way a speaker looks or what her personality traits might be according to her hairstyle."

Claire Potter offered some sage advice, writing, "ask yourself before Tweeting: is this something I would say in a department meeting? Then take it a step further: is this something I would put on the right-hand page of theNew York Times under my own name?" Although the history twittersphere is relatively small and self-regulating, it certainly has its share of troubling flame wars and trolls, so it's reassuring to see so many historians concerned about maintaining basic respect online.

Final Thoughts

Although many of our readers brought up fascinating points, there are still numerous questions left unanswered. What are the boundaries of privacy as more and more research presented at conferences can be found freely online, and what rights does a scholar retain in the process? I look forward to watching this conversation unfold over the coming months as we approach the 2014 annual meeting. You can view the conversation and totality in "Live-Tweeting Etiquette" (bit.ly/YM1sCe), a "Storified" collection of tweets on this topic.

— Vanessa Varin is the AHA's assistant editor, web and social media.

The Dos and Don'ts of Live-Tweeting at an Academic Conference:
A Working Draft

Contributed to the AHA's blog and in response to an AHA tweet

Do:

• Ask permission. Before the panel begins (preferably a few weeks in advance), ask panelists whether they agree to be tweeted.
  Contributed by Claire Potter on AHA Today. Other contributors have questioned whether this is necessary, and the discussion about this suggestion is ongoing.
• Clearly identify speakers. Although live-tweeting demands rapid fire tweets, all tweets should clearly identify the speaker quoted in each tweet.
  Contributed by Caleb McDaniel on AHA Today.
• Collect Twitter handles. Before the presentation, ask panelists for a Twitter handle. If they have one, you can reference the scholar, which allows them to track the conversation and even contribute.
  Contributed by @HistoryGrad and @Teffinina.
• Listen carefully. If you plan to live-tweet a scholar's presentation, it is only fair to quote his or her words correctly. Of course, the difficulty is that people talk quickly, especially if they are nervous, but if you are making the decision to put their work on an international platform like Twitter, it is only fair that you make an effort to methodically take notes and get their words right.
• Use #hashtags. If you plan to live-tweet, create and promote an accompanying hashtag specific to that session (or use the panelists' preferred hashtag, if they've provided one). This way your tweets will carry the same tag and users can follow the topic as its own distinct conversation.
• Try Storify. Along the same lines as the hashtag, it helps to Storify any conversation related to the hashtag. Storify allows users to create a timeline of social media interactions (like a Twitter conversation). This platform is particularly helpful for adding context to tweets, and organizing them into a single, common thread for users to read. For an example, we Storified the conversation surrounding this topic into a social media story titled "Live-Tweeting Etiquette" that I highly recommend.
• Link to the paper/session. If the panelist has made the work they are presenting available online, post a link.
  Contributed by Michelle Davison on Facebook.

Don't:

• Insult a panelist or participant. Twitter is a distinct but important form of academic discussion, and in this vein, live tweeters should follow the same code of conduct that governs all professional interactions. Recognizing the unique format of social media, in late 2012 the AHA publications department produced "Policies on Letters to the Editor and Comments on the AHA Website and Social Media" to help guide debate on our social media platforms.
• Our respondents roundly eschewed personal attacks. Elaine Treharne, commenting on AHA Today, cautioned twitterstorians to avoid commenting "on the way the speaker looks or what her personality traits might be according to her hairstyle."
• Indulge in snark. Claire Potter offered sage advice on AHA Today: "So ask yourself before Tweeting: is this something I would say in a department meeting? Then take it a step further: is this something I would put on the right-hand page of the New York Times under my own name?" @ProfessMoravec offered similar advice, tweeting, "do tweet constructive criticism do resist the urge to show how clever you are."
• Manipulate the record. One of the many invaluable aspects of Twitter is its ability to document and archive discussions. Thus, twitterstorians must be fair and balanced in how they cover a panel and portray a panelist's argument, regardless of how they feel about the argument being made.

Copyright © American Historical Association, used with permission.

Important Information About Joss In June!

Only 17 more days until Joss In June, and Dale and I can't wait to see you all!

Hotel Notes

As you may be aware, the conference hotel underwent a change of ownership in early May, transitioning from a Hampton Inn to a Comfort Inn. As a result of this changeover, there have been a few, very minor, hiccups concerning reservations for Joss in June attendees.

Therefore, we are suggesting that you contact the Comfort In Shelby at (704) 482-5666 and confirm your reservations. If you should have any trouble, ask to speak with the hotel manager, Mistie Meadows, and she should be able to straighten things out. Failing that, contact me and Dale and I will do our best to take care of any problems. 

If you have not yet made your reservations, we urge you to do so ASAP, as June is wedding season, and Shelby's hotels have a habit of filling up during the season.

Conference Facility Notes

The LeGrand Center is a multi-function building, with the first floor devoted to classroom space for Cleveland County Schools' Early College program, and Joss in June will take place in the conference center on the second floor. Just head upstairs form the main lobby, and you'll see the reception desk where you'll be checking in at the top of the stairs. Elevators are located under the stairs on the first floor for those with mobility issues.

The conference welcome, lunch, keynote, and raffle will be taking place in the Special Events Ballroom (labeled as ballrooms 4-6 on the map below) . The panels will be taking place in Conference Rooms 1 - 3.

Map of LeGrand Conference Center

Technology Notes

Each conference room has built-in screens and projectors, and integral wall ports for VGA and/or HDMI cables. VGA cables will be provided, but if you need to use an HDMI cable, please bring one with you.

If you are planning to use a PowerPoint or Prezi or to read your paper from a screen,  You will also need to bring your own laptop. Hookup will be quick and easy, with tech help in each room for every panel, but the conference rooms are not equipped with computers. Lighting in each room is on separate dimmers and can be adjusted as needed for showing clips from Whedon's darker works!

WiFi internet access is free under the LeGrand's guest access, with no password needed. The signal is strong and fast throughout the conference center.

There will be three very tech-savvy folks wandering around the conference (and one will be in each panel) who are official Joss In June Operatives (only much nicer than the one in Serenity). Our operatives are there to help, especially with tech issues, and, like their namesake, will do whatever it takes to solve your problems. Please don't hesitate to call upon them.

Non-Presenting Registration Still Open

We are able to accept full registration for non-presenting attendees for Joss In June until Friday, June 21. Cost will be $40 each, and will include lunch and two coffee/drink/snack services during the day. So if you have friends who might like to come, or for those of you in the local region, have some students or colleagues who might be interested in checking out a very affordable academic conference, please let them know they are welcome! In fact, we'll even be allowing walk-ins on the 29th, for only $20 (payable by cash or check only) each, but without lunch or access to snacks.

Other Information

McFarland and Co. publishing will be at Joss In June, with tables set up in the atrium area outside of the ballroom, and will be selling their books at a special conference rate. McFarland is usually able to take credit cards as well as cash.

We're also pleased to announce that some incredibly cool (seriously, these shirts just rock!) Joss In June t-shirts will be available for purchase in the atrium, and a few shirts from Slayage 5, held last year in Vancouver, will be available, as well as some Whedon Studies Association (WSA) coffee mugs. We'll let you know about the pricing for all of these items as soon as we figure it out ourselves! However, we will only be able to take cash or checks for t-shirts and mugs, so bring some cashy-money with you.

Also bring some cash for our fantastic raffle, to be held after Rhonda's keynote. We've rounded up some really cool items, including a  (relatively) rare Electric Company Spider-Man comic book scripted by Tom Whedon, Joss' father! Other Whedon comics, graphic novels, even a script or two, and more will be raffled off, so bring a few extra bucks for tickets. We'll be selling 1 ticket for $1, 5 tickets for $3, and an arm's length of tickets (measured from middle finger to middle of elbow) for $5.

Our goal for Joss in June is to break even, and t-shirt and raffle sales go towards covering conference expenses. In the event that we actually see a profit from Joss In June, that money will be donated to the WSA to further the international academic study of the works of Joss Whedon. 

Joss In June Facebook Page

To facilitate communication between Joss In June attendees, and to help those who might be looking to carpool to and from various airports, we have created a Facebook group page for Joss in June, which you can find at 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/139387929588791/

Since Facebook has a notification feature, we'll definitely be posting updates, etc on the conference there in the final weeks, as well as at the blog and via e-mail. It's also a good place to meet some of the presenters and attendees before the conference, and we'll be posting pics from the conference there, and encourage you guys to do the same.

Tweeting The Conference

Recently, it has become relatively common for people to live-Tweet during academic conferences. We have chosen not to try and ban this practice at Joss In June, and instead have asked all of our presenters to provide us with their Twitter handles, if they use the service. These handles will be posted on each presenter's name-plate, and we ask that if you Tweet about a presentation, you do so with proper accreditation, via either the presenter's full name or Twitter handle. Some best practices for conference tweeting have been developed by the American Historical Association, and, if you think you might Tweet during the conference, I urge you to read the AHA's article here: http://www.historians.org/perspectives/issues/2013/1304/Navigating-Twitters-Wild-Wild_West.cfm.

That's it for now, and, as always, please feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

Everyone's Coming!

Remember Kevin from the whiteboard of monster possibilities in The Cabin in the Woods?  No one bet on him.

Maybe someone should have.

Make your hotel reservation now - you don't want to keep Kevin waiting!

Strange Things Happening in Shelby, North Carolina . . .

It seems that strange events are occurring in an otherwise-ordinary town in western North Carolina.  Updates as they become available.

Conference Accommodations at the Comfort Inn Shelby

We're pleased to announce that the Comfort Inn located at 2012 East Marion Street in Shelby will be the official conference hotel for Joss in June.  Until June 8, rooms are available to conference attendees at a special rate of $84.00/night (+ taxes) and staying at the Comfort Inn includes free in-room high speed internet, free daily newspaper, access to their pool, fitness center, business center, a daily hot breakfast, and free coffee all day.  Adding to the fun, the Comfort Inn Shelby is less than a five minute drive to the conference site at the LeGrand Conference Center on the campus of Cleveland Community College and is within walking distance of several restaurants, a variety of shops in the Cleveland Mall, and the Carmike Mall 10 movie theater. 

Making your reservation is easy. Just call (704) 482 - 5666 and tell the nice folks at the Comfort Inn that you want the Joss In June Conference rate. And that's it!

The Comfort Inn Shelby website is still being finished up, but you can check out the basic amenities, get the address for information, etc now, and by the conference itself, the full site should be active.

Important Information About Reservations at the Conference Hotel

Hello all! We hope this finds you well.

The conference hotel in Shelby is currently undergoing conversion from a Hampton Inn to a Comfort Inn. We knew this was going to happen, but were not sure when. Please know that the conference rate will be honored, and we still get our block of rooms.

Unfortunately, during the transition period (which will last 2 weeks or so) the hotel is unable to take reservations of any type, so those of you who have tried will be unable to make your reservations. We'll let you know as soon as things are complete and the Comfort Inn's reservation system is online.

We have also been assured by the hotel manager that, if necessary, the special room rate of $84/night will be extended beyond the June 8 cut-off date if necessary due to the changeover. 

Thanks very much for your patience, and we look forward to seeing you all in June!