Political Communication Interest Group Business Meeting Minutes – March 21, 2024

Political Communication Interest Group
Eastern Communication Association
Business Meeting Minutes – March 21, 2024
Cambridge, MA

The meeting was called to order.

Christina Knopf stated that she still needs to receive the minutes from last year for review. Kimberley Hannah-Prater sent the minutes to Christy.

Reviewers—Zahedur Arman, Benjamin Bates, Josh Bramlett, Timothy Brown, Mengyuan Chen, Heather Crandall, Robert Green, Kimberley Hannah-Prater, Mary Kahl, Colin Kearney, Gilbert Kipkoech, Danielle Mehlman-Brightwell, Valerie Schrader, Heather Stassen, Courtney Tabor, Richard Vatz— were thanked. In addition, Heather, Ben, and Mary stepped in late to review when others who volunteered could not.
Scott Dunn, Colin Kearney, and Kim Hannah-Prater were thanked for serving as respondents and chairs.
Three papers received outstanding reviews and earned spots on the Top Paper panel.

Assessing the Impact of Radicalization on Domestic Terrorism and Political Violence: Empirical Evidence from the United States, by Kai Xu, University of Minnesota-Duluth - got a perfect score from all reviews.
*Debut paper, Don't Use "Don't Care": How Negative Question Wording Suppresses External Political Efficacy, by Katherine Haenschen, Northeastern University, Anna Zheng, Northeastern University, Marisa A. Smith, Michigan State University
Mediated Self-Presentation, Authenticity, and Image-Construction: A Multimodal Analysis of an African Vice President's Communication on Twitter, by Nana Kwame Osei Fordjour, University of Maryland College Park, and David Weiss, The University of New Mexico

Two roundtables were both accepted.
Two panel proposals were both accepted.
Eight papers -seven accepted.
We were given six sessions and programmed six sessions.
We discussed how to boost submissions and how the later deadline submission may help for next year in Buffalo. (Hotel rates will be cheaper next year.)
Christina Knopf put a call in NCA and AEJMC social media spaces, as well as through her own X, Mastodon, Threads, LinkedIn, and Facebook accounts.
The new Members Hub is now live on the ECA's website. Our division's programming is located in the discussion section under the Political Communication interest group.
Richard Vatz sponsored Wine and Spots. Dr. Vatz was thanked, and all were encouraged to attend Wine and Spots.

ECA has a new website for easier usage and a new ECA logo.
486 people registered for the 2024 conference- as of March 20, 258 were faculty and 188 were students. Sixty-five are for undergraduate scholars' conference. Jeanne Persuit, VP, said the submission numbers for ECA 2024 were similar to those for 2020.
ECA received 24k
ECA 2025 will be held in Buffalo, focusing on contemporary problems and creative solutions.
Jordan Atkinson updated the submission deadline to October 16, 2024. The deadline for USC graduates is December 15.
Kimberley Hannah-Prater discussed Jennifer Waldeck's finance update- The composition of the ECA finance committee is being changed. The editors of three journals (relaced with the president's pick) have been removed, and the finance committee will be the voting members.

The finance committee was brought to the executive council. We need to charge people more for dues. Suggestions for what dues will change, e.g., reg from $50 to $65; student membership will remain the same; emeritus from $25 to $35; patron from $90 to $150 year; lifetime membership $1800 payable over five years; and Department membership change from $125 to $150.

Kimberley Hannah-Prater provided Executive Director Stacy Smulowitz's finance report.

As of 2023, ECA collected in membership dues $14,215.
ECA's current revenue is $98,853.50. Expenses up to February are $102,027.56. The negative is $3,174.06. Reserve # February 3, 2024- 1,019,697.29. ECA is being audited by the IRS.
Multiple people brought up bylaws. However, the vote went the way it went.

EC Rep- Kimberley Hannah-Prater's term ends in 2025.
Scott Dunn was nominated for secretary in 2025. Richard Vatz supported the nomination. Second from Nana Kwame.

Christy may serve as a potential proxy for NCA.
Nana Kwame- suggested top student awards for masters and Ph.D. students.
Nana Kwame suggested using ECA submission as a preliminary for NCA.
Discussed potential topics include post-election, NY politics, women's suffrage, and the spotlight on retiring politicians/congressional change, such as Supreme Court, McKinely, and international politics.
We discussed using models like Rhetoric and Public address accepted work in progress and extended abstract with title.

The meeting was adjourned, and members were encouraged to attend Wine and Spots.