ECA – 2013 Convention

“Confluence”

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Omni William Penn Hotel

April 24-28, 2013

Thank you to all who attended our 104^th ECA Annual Meeting for making it a wonderful experience.  Panels and presentations were described as stimulating and insightful, business meetings were well-attended, and conference participants were clearly engaged during receptions.

I’d like to extend particular appreciation to those who served as part of the planning team. Interest group planners were diligent in submitting information and in carrying out the work of their groups. I was also fortunate to have an excellent group of associate planners: Second Vice President Monica Waugh-Benton, Basic Course Conference Coordinator Danamarie Every Gallagher, USC Coordinator Jason Wrench, Director of Marketing Katherine Thweatt, Graduate Poster Coordinator Katie Neary Dunleavy, and Short Course Coordinator Ennis Allen.  Kathie Cesa’s professionalism and presence at the convention registration desk  makes registration run smoothly; special thanks to her for handling a higher than usual number of onsite registrations this year. Thank you also to our convention sponsors and advertisers, whose support is greatly appreciated.

Congratulations to this year’s recipients of association awards. Alfred Mueller earned the Donald H. and Carolyn Drummond Ecroyd Teaching Award. Annette Holba received the Past Officers’ Award for scholarship and service and, along with Ronald Arnett,  the Everett Lee Hunt Award for a scholarly book that contributes to understanding the role of rhetoric in the contemporary world. Candice Thomas-Maddox was awarded the Distinguished Service Award.  ECA Article of the Year recognition went to Josue David Cisneros and the ECA Centennial Scholar was Alison Novak. The Applied Urban Communication Research Grant recipient was Allison Burr Miller. ECA Teaching Fellow status, the Association’s highest teaching honor, was accorded to Theodore Avtgis, Cindy Lont, and Judy Pearson. ECA’s highest research honor, ECA Distinguished Research Fellow status, was granted to Benjamin Bates, Judy Pearson, Melissa Bekelja Wanzer, and Keith Weber.

As a volunteer organization, ECA’s convention relies on the efforts of all who participate: audience members, chairs, poster judges, presenters, interest group planners, associate planners, and officers, to make our annual convention successful. Thank you all for your outstanding contributions this year and I look forward to our continuing collective work to make next year’s 105^th ECA Annual Meeting in Providence a success.

Danette Ifert Johnson
ECA President