About ECA
President's Message
Welcome! The Eastern Communication Association is the oldest professional communication association in the United States. Its first meeting was held on April 15 and 16, 1910 at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. Originally called the Eastern Public Speaking Conference, the first meeting brought together 15 college public speaking professors from five states. Today, ECA conventions attract over 900 communication professionals, undergraduate and graduate students from all over the United States as well as internationally. The 101st convention in Baltimore broke previous attendance records and featured ECA's first Awards Luncheon, with P.M. Forni of Johns Hopkins University as keynote speaker.
We invite you to participate in the 102nd annual convention of the Eastern Communication Association Convention, which will be held April 13-17, 2011, at the Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, with the theme "Communication and Power: From Classrooms to Politics." This convention features another "first" as Vice President Cindy Lont of George Mason University, primary convention planner, inaugurates the James C. McCroskey and Virginia P. Richmond Undergraduate Scholars Conference, which runs from noon on Friday until 6 p.m. on Saturday, offering sessions concurrently with the convention's regular programming during that time. Plan to attend the Basic Course Conference on the first day of the convention (Wednesday, April 13) to enrich your communication pedagogy and share your experiences with others. Calls for papers and panels are going out now--don't miss the outstanding opportunities awaiting us in Arlington!
With great pride in this outstanding association,
Janie Harden Fritz, Duquesne University
President, ECA
