The ADHO Conference Coordinating Committee now invites proposals to host the following two DH conferences, in 2017 and 2018.
Digital Humanities (DH) is the annual international conference of ADHO, the Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations: http://www.adho.org. ADHO's constituent societies are the European Association for Digital Humanities (EADH), the Association for Computers and the Humanities (ACH), the Canadian Society for Digital Humanities / Société canadienne des humanités numériques (CSDH/SCHN), the Australasian Association for Digital Humanities (aaDH), centerNet, and the Japanese Association for Digital Humanities (JADH). Our next joint DH conference will be held at the University of Western Sydney, Australia (http://dh2015.org/ 29 June–3 July 2015, and DH 2016 will be in Kraków, Poland, hosted by the Jagiellonian University and the Pedagogical University of Kraków, 10-16 July 2016.
Traditionally, the DH conference alternated only between North America and Europe, but a new protocol is meant to broaden the geographical distribution of ADHO events. DH 2015 is the first ADHO joint conference to be held in another region of the globe, and the 2016 conference will return to Europe. We therefore solicit proposals to host:
DH 2017 anywhere in the United States and Canada; and
DH 2018 anywhere in the world, but with a strong preference for sites outside Europe and the US or Canada.
We are particularly interested in proposals from areas where developed or developing digital humanities communities and organizations have not previously hosted a DH conference. But please note that the local organizers must be members of one of the ADHO constituent organizations, listed above.
The conference regularly attracts approximately 500 attendees, with 3-4 days of papers and posters. There are normally 4-6 parallel sessions per time slot, and a small number of plenary presentations and receptions. Meetings of the committees of the constituent organizations precede the conference, and lunchtime slots are normally used for member meetings of ADHO organizations.
The peer-reviewed academic program is developed by an international Program Committee appointed by ADHO constituent organizations. Local organizers at the host institution are responsible for the conference web site, provision of facilities, the production of a collection of abstracts, a conference banquet, and any other social events that the local hosts think appropriate. The conference is entirely self-financed through conference fees and any other financial contributions that the local organizer is able to arrange. ADHO expects no payment from the local host in the event that the conference makes a profit, but no financial support is provided for the conference by ADHO or its constituent organizations, except in relation to ADHO awards, such as named prizes or bursaries. ADHO does offer local organizers a modest incentive to ensure that the membership status of registrants is validated. In consultation with the ADHO Program Committee, the local organizer may suggest plenary speakers whose travel, subsistence, and registration must be funded from the conference budget.
The local organizer is expected to set (and verify) three levels of registration fees: for members of ADHO constituent organizations, for non-members, and for students. The difference between the fee levels for members and non-members should make becoming a member of one of our organizations cost-effective.
ADHO uses the conference management system Conftool, and the ADHO Infrastructure and Conference Coordinating committees provide support for this system, including access to data from previous conferences. Local organizers are required to use the Conftool system for registering participants and including them in special events such as the banquet, but actual credit card payments may be processed outside Conftool, by the local organizer.
Proposals should include:
an overview of facilities at the host institution;
a summary of local institutional engagement and support for the organizer, and contingency plans in case of problems;
possible arrangements for social events, to include the conference banquet;
options for accommodation (with provisional costs, and attention to low-cost student housing);
travel information and advice for participants;
a provisional budget, with an estimated registration fee;
options for payment (credit card, foreign currency etc) by participants; and
any other information that will help the ADHO Steering Committee make a selection.
Proposers must be prepared to give a short presentation and to answer questions at the ADHO Steering Committee meeting at the DH2015 conference in Sydney, Australia. Both the 2017 and 2018 hosts will be selected in Sydney, and the 2019 (European) host will be selected in Kraków.
Potential organizers are invited to discuss their plans informally with the chair of the ADHO Conference Coordinating Committee, Bethany Nowviskie (bethany [at] virginia [dot] edu) and with vice-chair and former local organizer Claire Clivaz (claire [dot] clivaz [at] unil [dot] ch). Protocols, guidelines, information about past conferences, and a memorandum of understanding between ADHO and local organizers can be found here: http://adho.org/conference. Sample budgets and other information may be available for planning purposes on request.
Proposals should be submitted to Nowviskie and Clivaz in draft form by late May.
Rev. 3/3/15 LMS