Posted By Nikki Usher (U Of San Diego) and Eszter Hargittai (U Zurich)
We both just returned from the ICA Warsaw Regional conference and have a critical takeaway for ICA: more, please.
And for ICA members: if your travel budget and calendar allow, support these conferences by submitting and attending.
For both of us, the ICA Warsaw conference presented an opportunity and an excuse to break out of our typical conference routines, be exposed to more research specific to the region than the main ICA conference allows, and gain a better understanding of the on-the-ground challenges for scholars who find the main ICA conference out of reach.
The conference theme, "Human Tech Transition: Crises in Mediatized Politics, Society & Economy," attracted researchers representing several ICA divisions, including Journalism Studies, Political Communication, and Communication and Technology. A consortium of Polish and Lithuanian universities planned the three-day meeting. The first day was a pre-conference on computational social science held at POLIN: the Jewish Museum of the History of Polish Jews, with a two-hour tour of the museum capping off the day. The following two days at the University of Warsaw featured two morning keynotes and three sessions of five parallel tracks.
The conference was right-sized small, such that each gathering opportunity gave a chance to meet new people but also a chance to deepen connections made in panels. Coffee breaks with snacks, lunches, dinners, and even an optional tour on the Saturday morning following the event were included. The on-site lunches guaranteed attendees would be ready for the afternoon sessions. The offsite dinners gave participants glimpses into local culture and cuisine, such as bigos, a rich stew of cabbage, and sauerkraut (yum!). We enjoyed delicious local specialties at a beautiful historical venue on the first night while listening to a string quartet. The second night made for camaraderie over local beer and a brewery tour.
From an academic perspective, the conference offered a deep dive into the region's communication scholarship. A strength of the programming was the location itself: bringing together scholars working in or researching former Soviet satellite countries with the lived experience of nearby autocracies whose governments sanction disinformation, propaganda, and censorship. But papers were not restricted to the region. There was a mix of presenters from across the globe, including scholars from Belgium, Canada, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Georgia, Ireland, Israel, India, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, and the United States.
Most sessions had three or four papers, giving more time for questions and answers than a panel of five. Participants seemed comfortable asking questions because these were held in classrooms rather than imposing large hotel conference rooms. With coffee or a meal following in the adjacent atrium, conversations started during Q&A could then continue in a more social setting.
When attending the main annual ICA conference, we have been known to prioritize scheduled conversations over attending panels (cough). In contrast, a smaller conference presented the opportunity to go to panels outside our main research areas, and - well - ditching panels to have coffee just felt wrong with a smaller group of participants. Plus, having dedicated coffee sessions made such panel absences unnecessary, even when wanting to have more in-depth conversations.
Nikki has attended most ICA annual meetings since 2008 and Eszter since 1999. While it is lovely that now ICA feels like hanging out with old, treasured friends and scholarly collaborators, an essential aspect of such meetings is expanding one's networks, hearing new perspectives, and making new connections. These more focused regional meetings seem like the venue to make everything happen.
Challenges and Opportunities for ICA Internationalization
Many people we met pointed to the expense and size of the main ICA annual conference as an impediment to their participation. The regional conferences make it logistically and financially easier for international scholars living a train ride or "low budget carrier" flight away. These factors can make it easier to attend with a crew of one's colleagues, as many at this venue did, which can help first-time conference-goers or early career scholars feel more comfortable.
The regional conferences also make it more feasible for students to participate. It was an excellent opportunity for one of Eszter's Master's students to present work that would have been cost-prohibitive for the main ICA venue.
Local hosts have to balance the awkward hosting tension of keeping close friends engaged while using the opportunity to make connections beyond local networks. But these audiences are not mutually exclusive. While hosting is exhausting, and it can be tempting to retreat to a quiet corner for a coffee with a friendly face, local hosts should do their best to build bridges between their existing collaborators and scholars visiting from across the globe.
The timing flexibility for regional conferences may also accommodate more scholars as these become institutionalized - ICA's calendar sticks to the global north summers, but even conferences in off-season Europe stand to present opportunities for reduced costs and calendar space. While some venues won't offer their best touristic side during colder months, many places also have plenty to show off at other times. Bonus: no crowds.
For these conferences to become institutionally meaningful as part of ICA culture, scholars who do not think twice about attending ICA every year-including senior scholars with broad name recognition-must show up and be present even if they are not keynoting.
In sum, these regional ICA meetings have a ton of potential, and we encourage others to attend them. We can't wait to see where future ones will take place and look forward to participating!
------------------------------
Tom Mankowski
ICA
Washington DC
United States
------------------------------