Minutes of the KBS Business and Executive Meetings at the KBS 2011

Kenneth Burke Society Triennial Conference
Clemson University, Business Meeting: Sunday, May 29, 2011

President, Ann George, chaired the KBS business meeting.
The 2008 (Villanova) minutes were approved as distributed.

OFFICERS ELECTED

            Vice-President: David Cratis Williams
            Treasurer: Virginia Anderson
            Secretary: Elvera Berry

REPORTS

Treasurer:  Virginia Anderson has been organizing and updating membership records in order to avoid confusion and non-canceled checks.
Current records indicate: 76 paid members + several non-paid participants.

Balance as of May 2011    2085.62
Savings  1336.10
Balance (minus forthcoming expenses): 4910.01
Expenses (incomplete as of May 29, 2011)       

Virginia also reported:

  • She has been working on the Official “filing” of the Society with New York State. (Original legal document is missing at this point.)
  • Membership remains an issue to be addressed. Dues  have been $20 (3 years, $50); students $10 (3 years, $25)

2011 Conference: David Blakesley

  • Dave will be submitting a formal report with expenses, etc. He indicated there were 106 registrations (half students).
  • He will be sending a call to participants for papers to be considered for a Conference book (South Carolina Press).

Special appreciation was expressed to Dave for a successful Triennial, including significant participation from young Burke scholars!

Journal: Ann George/Clarke Rountree 

  • Clarke indicated that Andy King had expressed some interest in producing a summer edition of the KB Journal. If so, great!
  • Andy’s journal-successor has not yet been named.
  • Many signed a card of Missing and Best Wishes that Elvera sent to Andy.

DISCUSSION

Membership and Dues

  • How can we encourage and sustain membership?
  • What do members “get” for their money?
  • Should any online-areas be restricted to “members only?”
  • Would such restriction violate spirit of access and openness?
  • Could members receive significant discounts on books?

(Secretary’s note: Questions raised in 2002/2005/2008 remain: i.e., Should dues be raised? What are the benefits of membership? Which resources should be open to all? Should a portion of the online journal or other materials be for members only?)

Suggestions discussed:

  • A periodic newsletter to maintain connections between triennial conferences
  • Receiving such an email (e.g., twice-a-year) might include a short column from the Executive Committee and alert membership to new KB works being published; reviews of publications; national and regional conferences with a Burke-presence (Communication, English, Rhetorical Studies, Writing, etc.); and the like.
  • The Burke list resides with David at Clemson; he offered to provide a template for a periodic form of correspondence that might make this feasible.

Question: How will we follow up on these ideas?

2014 Triennial Conference Location

  • Advantages/disadvantages of several geographic locations were discussed.
  • Discussion of university conference-sites with institutional host-coordinators vs. free-standing conference sites seemed to favor an institutional base.
  • The preference would be to distribute the workload by separating the functions of host and program planner.
  • Recent sites for possible return included: Penn State, Pittsburgh, Villanova.
  • The decision was to put out a formal request for possible hosts/sites.

Constitutional Changes: Ann George

Ann presented recommendations coming from the Executive Committee for several changes in the Constitution:

  • Article IX, Sections 2, 3  PASSES
  • Bylaw V (Duties of Officers), New Sections 3, 4, 5 PASSED
  • New Bylaw X (Awards) 

(Passed for now—logistics of timing to be reviewed by executive committee)

  • Discussion took place regarding whether the editor of the KB Journal should be a full member of the Executive Committee. The decision was to have an Executive Committee composed of President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and immediate Past President. The editor will serve as ex-officio member of the Executive Committee.

Respectfully submitted,

Elvera Berry, Secretary

Elvera B. Berry, Ph.D.
Professor of Communication
Roberts Wesleyan College
Rochester, NY14624
585.594-6333
berrye@roberts.edu

For the Record: Scott McLemee was plenary luncheon speaker (article appeared June 2, 2011), and Jack Selzer entertained with Donald Duck (Friday) and Fishing Stories (Banquet).

2011 Awards-Recipients (presented at the Saturday evening Banquet)

  • Lifetime Achievement Award = Bryan Crable 
  • Distinguished Service Award = Ann George 
  • Emerging Scholar Award = Brian O’Sullivan
  • Outstanding Paper = Adiel Suarez-Murias
  • Any other awards?  Have I made any errors in names?

Kenneth Burke Society Triennial Conference, Clemson University, Executive Committee: Sunday, May 29, 2011

Virginia Anderson, Elvera Berry, David Blakesley, David Cratis Williams, Ann George, Clarke Rountree

Incoming President, Clarke Rountree, chaired the Executive Committee Meeting

Treasurer’s Report

Virginia Anderson has been organizing and updating membership records in order to avoid confusion and non-canceled checks. Questions arose regarding:

  • Who pays/does not pay dues?
  • What difference do dues make in terms of participating in the Triennial?
  • What information (e.g., treasurer’s report) should be public?
  • What information should be for Executive Committee?
  • What data should be transferred to a central location to be kept by whom?

(David will be getting the financial information to Virginia and help clarify membership records.)

The Journal

Discussion focused on appointment of a new editor. David Blakesley reported that several were willing to be considered for the position: David Tietge (Monmouth), Paul Lynch (St. Louis), and Nathaniel Rivers (in transition from Georgetown to St. Louis). In view of experience and the current centralized housing of publication-related materials, it was decided to name David Blakesley “Editor of Publications” and ask Paul Lynch and Nathaniel Rivers to assume primary responsibility for the KB Journal as “managing editors.”

(We’ll need some email exchange regarding some of this once David has a response from Paul and Nathaniel)

  • identification of role(s) of “Editor of Publications” vis-à-vis journal and other website material, etc. 
  • delineation of responsibilities of the “managing editors.”
  • role of journal personnel vis-à-vis Executive Committee (cf., Business meeting discussion of bylaws).                 

Additional Actions Taken

Ethan Sproat gave KBS his property interests (from his digitization work) to the DVD, KB: A Conversation with Kenneth Burke. The Treasurer will store the letter/legal document. (Where will we announce how to purchase these now?)

Dues: – KBS membership will be renewed at the same time every 3 years—namely, during the Triennial Conference. Current members out of synch because their membership falls short of 2014, will be given a free membership to that date (including those who renew for "One Year" on the KB Journal website). Those who run over three years will be given a discount on the Conference in 2014.

  • New dues have been increased to $30/year for one year (which will no longer be  an option as of 2013). Three-year dues will go to $75. Lifetime members will now pay $250.
  • Post-Executive Meeting: Student dues will remain at $10/year until 2013; three-year dues will be $75 at the 2014 Triennial Conference.

Triennial Conference

  • Clarke will send out a call for conference hosts and planners (two separate duties by two different people) later this summer. Ideally, we will have someone whose institution can support the conference.

NOTE: President Clarke’s 81 totally dominated the post-Conference golf outing!

2011 Burke Triennial Conference: Business Meeting Attendance
Attendance at Triennial Business Meeting: Sunday, May 29, 2011

Ed Appel
Virginia Anderson
Elvera Berry
David Blakesley
Chris Carter
Miriam Marty Clark
DavidDzikowski
Mike Feehan
Ann George
Greig Henderson
Mark Huglen
Jim Klumpp
Joel Overall
Nathaniel Rivers
Clarke Rountree
Ethan Sproat
Dries Vrijders
Ryan Weber
Robert Wess
David Williams

2011 Burke Triennial Conference: Executive Committee Meeting
Clemson: Sunday, May 29, 2014

Virginia Anderson
David Blakesley
Elvera Berry
Ann George
Clarke Rountree
David Williams