Hi there I've been a 'lurker' to this email discussion but after Miriam's input, I think I might give my input too. I'm a person who has attended Inkshed only a few times in the past six years (four, maybe). To corroborate Miriam's sense from others, I too have felt that the Inkshed community was insular--but not self-absorbed and certainly not insular because Inkshedders didn't make the effort to welcome me. I was always warmly welcomed. It was just always clear that the Inkshedders going to meetings had a long, friendly history with each other that I wasn't part of, and that made me feel less part of the community. Added to this is the fact that you can't really 'come and go' at Inkshed, so if you're already feeling socially uncomfortable, the 'isolation' of the conference (location, lack of freedom) didn't help that. How to mitigate these issues? Make the conference more like a regular conference where the community is always infused with 'new blood' and the location is not 'isolated' (although, I've been to beautiful Inkshed conference locations ;-). I also feel that the Inksheds I went to lacked the kind of intellectual rigour that I have experienced at other conferences but that's been both a positive and negative experience for me. And, I must admit, I've supported a less rigorous kind of conference by treating the conference, myself, as a kind of workshop for ideas in process. And here is where I think the conference has been so GREAT for me. I always felt that I could bring germinating thoughts on projects, and when I did, I got these incredible Inksheds that I could use to develop my work and thinking. Perhaps the conference could still be this fantastic place for idea germination, with inkshedding built in, but the process for vetting submissions could be more stringent. Maybe the conferences need to be more focused, thematically, and the call for papers aimed at getting very high quality in-process work. Maybe Inkshed, as a conference for percolating and developing ideas, can be a kind of 'workshop' conference that precedes CASDW (a day long or day and a half event?). I also think that an Inkshed conference that is about trying to rethink what Inkshed should be is a 'downer' and such a conference is also only for those people who have a history to the organization. No new blood there. Hope this helps, Christina Christina Halliday, PhD Director, Writing & Learning Centre/ Assistant Professor, Liberal Studies T 416.977.6000 x239 F 416.977.6006 E [log in to unmask] ONTARIO COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN 100 McCaul Street, Toronto, Canada M5T 1W1 www.ocad.ca -----Original Message----- From: CASLL/Inkshed [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Horne, Miriam Sent: Tuesday, September 23, 2008 11:46 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Inkshed 2009 Good question Marcy, but not so easy to answer. Like many Inkshedders, Inkshed has had significant impacts in both my professional and personal life and it's not easy to hear things that may come across as being critical. I tried to address some of these things in the upcoming newsletter, but here's an immediate impression. I think that people who don't share the same positive experience that I have had at Inkshed simply don't come back. My impression from many of these people who I spoke with during the course of my research is that they find the community insular and self-absorbed. They also feel that it lacks the intellectual rigour and intensity that it once had or that other conferences have and that it's the same thing year after year. I am not suggesting that the entire Inkshed culture needs to be revisited and reinvented. I am suggesting, however, that instead of letting these participants disappear, we need to examine their frustrations. Miriam Miriam E. Horne, PhD Faculty, Core Division Champlain College Burlington, VT 05401 802-383-6694 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties, write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask] For the list archives and information about the organization, its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- To leave the list, send a SIGNOFF CASLL command to [log in to unmask] or, if you experience difficulties, write to Russ Hunt at [log in to unmask] For the list archives and information about the organization, its newsletter, and the annual conference, go to http://www.stu.ca/inkshed/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-