[ADS-M] New info about NWAV, a sister society

[Grant Barrett]

Since the American Dialect Society and NWAV (New Ways of Analyzing
Variation) share similar goals and have an overlapping membership, I
am sending the message below from Dennis Preston.

.....


The NWAV Conference, a mainstay of research on language variation and
change since its founding at Georgetown University in 1972 by Roger
Shuy and C.-J. Bailey, is pleased to announce the formation of an NWAV
Conference Steering Committee. An annual business meeting has been
held at the conference for some time, but there has been no governing
body, leaving business unattended to between meetings and nowhere for
interested parties to provide input or get information.

For many years, and especially during some difficult periods for the
conference, Bill Labov and Gillian Sankoff offered support and
stability for the continuation of NWAV, and it is with deep
appreciation that we acknowledge their efforts. Both have asked to be
relieved from further administrative and guidance responsibilities.

At the annual business meeting in Toronto (in October 2015), the
Steering Committee was established with the current membership:

Standing Members: Dennis Preston (OKState) and Walt Wolfram (NCState)

Scott Kiesling (2013 Pittsburgh)

Zsuzsanna Fagyal (2014 Chicago)

Michol Hoffman (2015 Toronto)

Panayiotis Pappas (2016 Vancouver)

Joe Salmons (2017 WI-Madison)

The Committee consists of two standing members and a representative
from the current and two preceding and following host institutions
(selected by the institution). Upcoming members (and future host
institutions) are as follows:

Gregory Guy (2018 NYU)

Tyler Kendall (2019 Oregon)

Lars Hinrichs (2020 TX-Austin)

The main duties of the Committee are

1) to offer a central place where any matters concerning the
conference may be addressed,

2) to provide future organizers with a guide to conference planning,
organization, funding, and delivery.

3) to provide web-based resources for the conference during the time
between those usually provided by the organizing institution,

4) to conduct such matters that may require decision-making outside
the time frame of the conference itself, including, but not limited
to, proposals for future sites as well as communications with
organizations (e.g., ADS, LSA, NSF).

So far, 1) is established, and we invite communication with the
Committee on any matters concerning the conference; such
communications may be sent to preston at msu.edu for forwarding to the
Committee; progress on 2) is being made, and we are grateful to
Toronto students from the last NWAV for assisting in the process; 3)
is a goal that will be the focus of our ongoing discussions, and at
least one matter in 4) (approval of the Texas NWAV site for 2020) has
been accomplished.

We believe this action puts NWAV on a safer footing for continuing
excellence in the future, and we invite comment and discussion on any
matters concerning the conference.

Dennis R. Preston, Regents Professor
Oklahoma State University, Stillwater USA
&
University Distinguished Professor Emeritus
Michigan State University, East Lansing USA