PRE CON

Member-Driven Education at NCA

MEETING The National Communica- tion Association (NCA) will hold its 99th Annual Convention at the Mar- riott Wardman Park Hotel in Washing- ton, D.C., on Nov. 21–24. A gathering of scholars, practitioners, and teachers, the meeting is an attendee-driven event that focuses on research and education in the field of communication. After a dip in attendance at last year’s con- vention in Orlando, Michelle Randall, CMM, CMP, NCA’s director of conven- tion and meetings, expects attendance to be up to its normal level of about 5,000 participants this year. NCA holds more than 1,200 indi- vidual sessions over the four-day show, which means that every hour and 15 minutes, there are 60 to 70 separate breakouts going on. Session content comes directly from members (and occasionally nonmembers), who submit proposals through NCA’s website that are reviewed and accepted or rejected by other members.

CHALLENGES As an association that is made up primarily of college and uni- versity educators, as well as some K–12 teachers, NCA has found that the cost of attending its conference is an increas- ing challenge. Recession-related budget cuts in many states have meant that “most, if not all, state university systems were cut back in terms of their funding,” Randall said. Those cuts have trickled down to universities’ discretionary funding, which includes things “like association memberships for its faculty and travel assistance.” NCA has responded by actively

trying to find value for attendees and presenting information differently. “We haven’t necessarily shifted things pro- grammatically,” Randall said, “but we’ve

PCMA.ORG

Inside Source Communications scholars and practitioners drive the session content at NCA’s Annual Convention.

certainly looked at things like asking the hotel to throw in free Internet service.” The association also tries to find dis- counts that it can provide to attendees in the host city, as well as negotiating travel deals with airlines and Amtrak to try to ease some of the burden. “Our challenge,” Randall said, “is trying to find value for our attendees — not just in conference registration, but in airfare, hotel, and all the associated fees.”

INITIATIVES “Being that our members are academics, they are very married to their books,” Randall said. But a few years ago, NCA rolled out a mobile app and software for attendees to do their convention planning online. The motivation was not just to reduce the environmental impact of a large num- ber of printed programs, but also to give organizers “the ability to keep the information updated and current at all times and to open a more immediate channel of communication with mem- bers online,” Randall said. She calls the convention a traditionally “pen-and- paper system,” but has found the app and website are gaining traction each

year as members are becoming accus- tomed to the technology. After the opportunity to present

their research to peers, NCA attendees list networking as the biggest draw of the convention, owing to “the academic environment,” Randall said. “People go to grad school with other people, so they come up in the ranks with each other and then they go to different universi- ties to become faculty members, and this is really their opportunity for every- body to get together.” So NCA organizes several network-

ing events, including a general session on the first full day of the convention. Over the next two evenings, NCA pro- vides space at the venue for private networking events put on by specific universities and schools for alumni and current or former faculty members. Randall has found these receptions to be especially popular among attendees, many of whom stay on site in the eve- ning to attend them.

. —Katie Kervin

For more information: natcom.org/ convention

SEPTEMBER 2013 PCMA CONVENE 19