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04/28/2009

Argumentation and Forensics Business Meeting April 24, 2009

 Argumentation and Forensics Interest Group Business Meeting

April 24, 2009, 8 a.m. 

Attending (in alphabetical order):

Neil Butt, Gary Eckles, Carl Hyden, Sean Luechtefeld, Fran Mindel, Barb Sims, Ted Sheckels. 

1. The previously elected Chair was not present, so Hyden opened the meeting as Acting Chair and indicated that the first order of business should be to elect a Vice-Chair/Planner to represent the group at the current (2009) convention planners meetings, plan the 2010 meeting, and serve as Chair in 2010.  Mindel volunteered and was approved unanimously. 

2. Sheckels suggested that the group should consider ideas for next year's panels, especially with an eye toward drawing a broader audience.

3. Eckles initiated a discussion about attempting to give at least some of the panels a Baltimore connection, given that Baltimore is hosting the next ECA. Some of the possibilities that were discussed were:

  • cosponsoring with other units, such as political communication
  • panels on the Baltimore urban debate league (BUDL)
  • attempting to contact forensics programs (individual events, policy debate, parliamentary debate) in the Baltimore area
  • having a parliamentary debate team and a policy debate team debate about which approach is best
  • panels on orators/communicators/public figures with Baltimore connections (e.g.: H. L. Mencken, Nancy Pelosi (and the other Pelosis) the Mitchells, Pressman, Mikulski, Theodore R. McKeldin)
  • contacting Richard Vatz about setting up an Ehrlich-Mikulski debate  

4. Butt asked if there was other business that the group had to complete. Hyden indicated that the group needed to select a Vice-Chair/Planner for the following year, to attend the planning meetings at the 2010 convention, plan the 2011 meetings and serve as Chair in 2011.  Butt volunteered, but indicated there was a possibility that he would not be able to follow through.  Eckles indicated that he will be at both conventions and would be willing to serve as a backup if Butt was unable to serve.  The group approved. 

5. There was a brief discussion about where the 2012 convention would be, but the group was unable to definitively answer that question. 

6. The meeting concluded at 8:45 a.m.