ADHO Conference Protocol

Conference Protocol

of the

Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations

(ADHO)

Preamble: This document describes the Conference Protocol for the annual international conference of the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations (ADHO). The Conference Protocol guides the work of the ADHO Conference Coordinating Committee (CCC). As stipulated in the ADHO Governance Protocol, the chair of the CCC serves at the pleasure of voting members of the ADHO Steering Committee. Other members of the CCC are appointed by member organizations, with one representative from each organization.

  1. Conference Venue

    1. The ADHO Conference Coordinating Committee (CCC) will solicit bids for the conference venue, according to a procedure documented in the annex to this protocol. They will advise bidders in formulating bids. The ADHO steering committee will make all final decisions concerning bids. Preference will be given to bids which enable the conference to rotate geographically so as to distribute the travel burden equitably among the whole membership.

  2. The Program Committee and the Reviewing Process

    1. The academic program of the conference will be determined by an international program committee (IPC).

    2. Constituent organizations of ADHO may designate members of the IPC according to guidelines specified in the annex to this protocol, following the principle of equal membership from all affiliates. The IPC shall be appointed no later than two years in advance of the conference.

    3. The Program Chair will be a member of a constituent organization, and is appointed by the ADHO steering committee from a list of names put forward by the Executive Council of the constituent organization hosting the conference. The Program Chair serves in addition to the designated representatives of the constituent organizations. The Program Chair is a voting member of the Program committee and has the casting vote in case of a tie.

    4. The program committee will have a Vice-Chair elected by the IPC at its first meeting, normally from a constituent organization other than organization providing the Program Chair. The Vice-Chair will assist the Chair and will take over the Chair's duties in the event that the Chair is unable to fulfill them. The Vice-Chair is a voting member of the Program Committee.

    5. There will be a Local Organizer (LO) who acts as the point of contact between the host institution and the IPC. The LO is a non-voting member of the IPC.

    6. The roles of Program Chair and Local Organizer shall not be filled by the same person.

    7. The CCC shall ensure that an email list is established for each IPC and that IPC members are promptly subscribed thereto. In addition to the IPC members, each email list should include as listeners the chair of each constituent organization, the chair of ADHO steering committee, the chair of CCC, as well as the future LO and the future IPC Chair once these have been designated.

    8. The IPC approves the structure and content of the entire academic program. The academic program will normally include a mix of papers, panels, posters, and plenary sessions, including keynote addresses, the balance of which is the responsibility of the IPC. The IPC may designate any paper or session as a plenary if in their view itis of sufficient interest to the community. Any conference theme is decided by the IPC in consultation with the LO. Keynote speakers are decided by the IPC in consultation with the LO, and should ideally represent a range of disciplines, interests, and geography.

    9. The IPC, the LO, and the executive council of each constituent organization may each sponsor a special session for inclusion in the academic program, subject to approval by the IPC.

    10. The review process is as follows:

      1. The CCC maintains and updates a list of reviewers. Members of the IPC may serve as reviewers. The reviewers should be selected to represent a range of disciplines, interests, and geography.

      2. The Program Chair initiates and oversees the review process for all proposals received by the deadline.

      3. Proposals that are received after the deadline for submissions or that fail to conform to the guidelines announced in the call for papers will be accepted for review at the discretion of the IPC.

      4. The IPC will take reviewers' comments and other relevant factors into account in determining acceptance and rejection of proposals.

      5. The Program Chair for a conference may not submit a proposal for presentation there. Members of the IPC and reviewers may submit proposals, but every effort must be made to avoid conflict of interest.

  3. Conference Organization and Financing

    1. Financing the conference is the sole responsibility of the LO; neither ADHO nor the constituent organizations will subsidize the conference.

    2. The name of the conference is Digital Humanities [Year].

    3. The CCC is responsible for providing a draft of the call for papers, following a standard model supplied in the Annex. The draft may be modified each year by the IPC, taking into account the chosen theme of the conference.

    4. The LO will provide at the start of the conference a volume of abstracts of the papers accepted for presentation.

    5. A selection of conference papers will be published in the ADHO journal (both print and online as appropriate).

    6. These conditions must be accepted by the LO before the location for a conference is approved.

    7. This protocol and its annex will be provided by the CCC Chair to all members of conference-related committees

Approved July 4 2006 by the ADHO Steering committee for final approval by the ACH and ALLC executives

Approved by the ACH and ALLC executives July 5, 2006

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