Bob-

I recognize the importance of communication between professionals.

I do not see the point of expenditure of such significant funds to do so 
when budgets are tight and Archeologists have to rely upon
ordinary people to do volunteer work to get jobs done. It sends a disturbing 
message.

I think part of the problem is the demand for up scale conference settings 
to do it in "style"  The conference industry will take all the money
you want to throw at it and I think we should throw them nothing.

In Maryland I remember experiencing wonderful conferences in Delaware on the 
shore in the least expensive hotel in the area in the winter
off season. In Alabama I recall excellent meetings at very small places.

Conferences should not be regarded as vacations or rewards - they should be 
for work.

The internet exists- one can put pdf presentations on line and talk over 
internet telephones, video presentations can be placed on servers- this 
should be the future of a profession
which is short of funding.

If conference costs for professionals with expense accounts for some strange 
reason have to be so high I would propose the development of state programs 
partnering with local Societies
to make it possible for volunteers who have assisted professionals with 
their work to attend at a cut rate admission ($20 or less per day) if they 
can demonstrate that they have put in
the volunteer time. These people need the information as much as 
professionals.

And don’t tell me about volunteering to help at conferences- I did that in 
Tennessee and could hardly get to a presentation. And I hear volunteers 
still had to pay parking in Baltimore.

High conference costs are not just in archeology they are everywhere. We 
need to make a less exclusive bigger tent and not a more high priced 
conference center.

Is the SHA doing anything to develop internet conferencing?

Conrad Bladey
Professional Archeologist and Peasant


-----Original Message----- 
From: Robert L. Schuyler
Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2012 8:28 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: SHA Session on Traveling

I think I am one of many who misunderstood the title of this
discussion assuming it was about a session at SHA 2013 on
"traveling." I only realized with Alasdair's message what was the real 
topic.

As an active member of the SHA and a Past President I would like to
agree with Alasdair, and perhaps others, but only up to a point. We
already had a great meeting at York and Leicester sounds like a
excellent location - Cardinal Woolsey is buried in Leicester and he
spent money like all the past SHA Boards. The Board needs to leave
flowers on his grave.

We need to normally meet in "Greater North America" (USA, Canada, and
the West Indies) and occasionally go to Western Europe, especially
the Islands (England, Ireland, and Scotland). If we move beyond those
boundaries the meetings get much too expensive for everyone, not just
for students, retired members, and underemployed members. Even in the
USA we cannot go to Alaska or Hawaii - simply too expensive for the
air tickets. Australia, South Africa, South America, Eastern Europe,
are simply too far away and so too
expensive.

It would be great to meet in Cape Town, Accra, Sydney, or Buenos
Aires but even Mexico City is probably too expensive.

Inside North America we need to keep our general 2 to 1 pattern -
within every three meetings one should be in the Far West if
possible. We have a large membership on the West Coast.

Finally we need to try to help our members outside of "Greater North
America" to come to the North American meetings.

So, be thankful we have been invited to Leicester by our colleagues.
Our following meetings are well spread out in North America - I
think: Quebec City, Seattle, Washington D,C, and then our 2017
anniversary meeting in Fort Worth-Dallas, Texas (= founding meeting in 
1967).

Bob Schuyler

At 05:02 AM 5/5/2012, you wrote:
>As both an SHA officer and the Program Chair for Leicester I'm obviously 
>exceptionally biased, but I would reiterate what Philip Levy notes (see 
>below).
>
>On a purely personal 'speaking only for myself' level, I recognise that the 
>Leicester conference represents a significant expense for many North 
>American colleagues.
>
>But while holding the SHA conference in Leicester may present challenges 
>for some of our North American members, it represents an excellent 
>opportunity for British and continental European colleagues to participate 
>in an SHA conference, and for North American and European colleagues to 
>engage with each other in a manner that's usually impossible at a North 
>America venue that usually represents a significant - often impossible - 
>expense for Europeans.
>
>Given that this is only the second time that SHA has left North America 
>(I'm imperfectly including Jamaica as 'North American'), I hardly think 
>that 2 non-North American conferences in the almost 50 year history of our 
>society represents a wholly unfair geographical balance given the 
>international nature of our discipline.
>
>And historical archaeology is genuinely international.  On a personal level 
>I've just returned from the truly excellent Argentinian Historical 
>Archaeology Congress in Buenos Aires, SPMA often travels outside the UK 
>(including conferences in North America), I'm presenting in a historical 
>archaeology session at the EAA meeting in Helsinki this September, and I 
>always enjoyed ASHA conferences when I was living and working in Australia.
>
>We look forward to warmly welcoming as many as possible of our North 
>American colleagues in Leicester this coming January, and hope you'll enjoy 
>the extensive opportunities to network with colleagues from other 
>continents.  We've already received several excellent symposium submissions 
>from colleagues in both North America and Europe, and this promises to be 
>an exciting conference for everyone who attends.
>
>If nothing else, we can promise you significantly better beer than we 
>usually get at an SHA conference ;)
>
>Alasdair Brooks
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Date:    Fri, 4 May 2012 14:56:13 -0400
>From:    "Levy, Philip" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Re: SHA Session on Traveling
>
>And, to be fair--it is cheaper this year for our British friends and
>colleagues who normally have to pony up more than we Americans do year by
>year.
>PL