2003
Middle Atlantic Archaeological Conference
Minutes of the 3/15/03 Business Meeting at the The Cavalier Hotel
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Approximately 35 people in attendance
The meeting came to
order at 7:35 PM and Pres. Mike Barber welcomed the audience.
OLD BUSINESS
President’s
Report: President Barber did not have a formal report to present.
President-Elect report: Cara
Blume noted that next year’s elections constitute the main issue at hand and
cited the need to establish a nominating committee that she’ll lead.
Pres. Barber noted that he would try to obtain volunteers for the
nominating committee.
Secretary’s Report: Secretary
Sanford reported there would be some minor revisions to last year’s (2002)
minutes due in part to typographical errors and because of statements confusing
the Membership Committee and the former Poster and Marketing Committees.
Based on information provided by Faye Stocum (see below), Sanford
commented that the minutes required revisions in the “Membership Report”
section (page 1 of the 2002 minutes). The
following sentence was in error: “Pres.
Otter continued that at last year’s meeting there was a discussion about how
to market MAAC, but the Membership Committee has not come back with methods to
do so.” The term “Poster
Committee” should be substituted for “Membership Committee.”
Pres. Barber sought approval for the revised 2002 Business Meeting
minutes. Carole Nash moved that the
minutes be approved with impending revisions.
The motion was seconded and then approved by voice vote from the floor.
Treasurer’s Report
(see attached document): Carol Ebright reported that at the beginning of
this fiscal year (July 1, 2002) MAAC had a total of $19,080.05.
By the time of this conference MAAC had $19,683.06, with this total not
reflecting any of this conference’s income or expenses.
Pres. Barber accepted the treasurer’s report.
In a document later submitted to the Executive Board, conference expenses
amounted to $9,590.96, while conference income totaled $10,414.85.
These entries result in MAAC having a balance of $18,644.14 at the end of
the fiscal year (June 30, 2003).
Member-at-large
Report: Dave Mudge (Archival
Committee) commented that MAAC’s archives are now located in Morris Library at
the University of Delaware (which also accepts ESAF archives).
Mudge stated he would accept archival material and transport it to this
location every few months. Pres. Barber asked former President Ed Otter if he
had any material to be archived. Otter
replied that he had his own presidential files and those of past president Chris
Bergman to submit.
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Membership
Secretary’s Report: Faye
Stocum reported that an outstanding membership of the Executive Board had been
resolved, as had one of three outstanding memberships for conference presenters.
Stocum thanked program co-chairs Dennis Pogue and George Tolley, as well
as Pres. Barber, for their assistance in obtaining the necessary memberships.
As to memberships in 2002, there were 156 people as of last year’s
meeting, 199 members as of December 2002, and a total of 200 by January 2003.
Of this total 132 were individual memberships, 42 were institutional
memberships, 7 were student memberships, and 9 were joint memberships.
Profit realized from membership categories included: $330 from individual
memberships, $105 from institutional memberships; $112.50 from joint
memberships; and, a loss of $42.50 from student memberships, for a total profit
of $505 that represents a $20 decrease from last year.
Stocum commented that MAAC needs a minimum of 205 paid memberships to
cover the costs of the journal and, for the third consecutive year we have
failed to meet that minimum number. In
2003 MAAC had 187 members prior to this meeting (March 2003), which represents a
17% increase over last year at this time. An
additional 13 memberships at registration established a total of 200, close to
the above “minimum.” Faye stated
she expects membership will increase to about 215 by the end of the year, based
on expected memberships of institutional libraries and past membership
practices. There are no memberships
for 2004 at present.
Faye
noted that of the 83 presenters at this year’s meeting, 66% are new members,
and based on previous trends most of these new members will not renew their
memberships in the next year. She
further commented that unless MAAC continues to require paper presenters to be
members, our membership total will likely fall well below 200 and towards 150.
So far 41 members have been removed from MAAC’s roster since 2000, with
38 due to non-payment, two because of death, and one due to divorce.
Faye
then clarified as aspect of past MAAC activity and the meeting minutes with
respect to the above-noted confusion between the Membership Committee and the
former Marketing and Poster Committees. At
the 2000 business meeting a MAAC marketing strategy group was created by former
President Chris Bergman, with the committee including Faye Stocum (chair) and
Ned Heite. At the 2001 business
meeting this committee presented its report, which fulfilled its duty and the
committee was subsequently disbanded. At
the same business meeting and as a result of further marketing discussions,
former President Ed Otter appointed Ned Heite to chair a poster committee.
Heite was charged with appointing other committee members, developing
mock posters for discussion, coordinating poster information with state
archaeological societies and their programs, and designing posters with tear-off
membership forms to be sent to anthropology programs at colleges and
universities. The Poster Committee
was supposed to report back to the Executive Board at the 2002 meeting, which it
did not and it did not conduct the activities with which it was charged.
Faye
next addressed MAAC’s membership fee structure for the future and how it
relates to covering publication costs for the journal through reimbursing Roger
Moeller. For each individual
membership (at $25 per person), $22.50 goes to covering the journal’s cost.
The society profits best from joint memberships ($35), while it loses
money from student memberships ($20) in this regard.
Roger Moeller (absent at this point in the meeting), according to Faye,
is not requesting an increase in our fees. Upon
further questioning about costs by Pres. Barber, Faye responded that Roger and
MAAC are not breaking even in terms of membership income covering the
journal’s production costs, but that with this year’s expected increase in
memberships, we should be “ahead of the game” for the first time in five
years. In response to Pres.
Barber’s question about keeping MAAC’s membership fees the same, Faye
recommended that MAAC do so. The
Executive Board agreed to this recommendation and added that the fee structure
will remain the same for the next two years.
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Journal Editor’s
Report: Initially Roger Moeller
was not present, but arrived during the Money-Spending Committee report and
discussion (see below). The
journal’s status was discussed at that time, particularly in response to Faye
Stocum’s question to Roger about if he still wanted to own the journal and
continue its publication. He
provided a mixed response based on various ramifications.
He stated that while it may be a good time to look for a replacement, the
journal’s production goes well as long as articles are submitted regularly,
and particularly when there’s a backlog of articles.
Difficulties increase when articles are not forthcoming, and include time
spent “beating the bushes” for articles and catching up on the editing and
production stages. Despite these
problems Roger commented that he would hate to give up the journal if its
survival is threatened. Finally,
Roger reported that he has six conference presentations confirmed for the next
issue, which marks a better situation than this time last year.
Joan
Walker asked “If MAAC takes over the journal, then who runs it?”
Faye Stocum responded that we have a very good situation at present, in
that despite most people thinking the journal belongs to MAAC, Roger owns and
runs the journal, and does it well. Faye
also reiterated her earlier point about the funding for the journal coming from
MAAC memberships and that if MAAC took over the journal, it would be difficult
to develop another production system. Roger
replied that he would agree to stay on as journal editor and would keep the
journal’s production as his own. Finally,
Roger added that the current volume (JMAA 18) was mailed out during the third
week in February.
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Committee Reports:
Awards
Committee: Liz Crowell reported that in 2003 the committee had nominated and
presented Howard MacCord with the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was the only
award this past year. She also noted
that Varna Boyd has resigned from the committee as chair, with her replacement
being Cassandra Micheaux. Pres.
Barber and Liz Crowell asked that other interested members join this committee.
Pres. Barber brought up the point that members had discussed the
committee’s nominating process and expressed the concern that a small group,
the committee, ends up making decisions for the society as a whole.
He made the recommendation that a new policy be established in which the
Executive Board would review the committee’s nominations and award
recommendations. Barber also
requested that more members offer input in the nomination process.
He finally noted that besides the lifetime achievement award, there is a
second award for special endeavor, for which there could be nominations.
Money-Spending
Committee: Carole Nash indicated
the committee had held a few discussions to date, with suggestions including:
(1) seeking input as to the appropriate amount to donate to the William Gardner
Memorial fund at Catholic University; (2) seed money for publication by regional
journals (with journal sales resulting in returned funds); (3) a small grants
category for research that must be published in the MAAC journal (with receipt
based on proposals that address given criteria and answering relevant
questions); and, (4) regular contributions to appropriate organizations, such as
the Archaeological Conservancy, with funds rotating between these organizations.
She reinforced the need to decide how much money to spend in total and
per year, and commented that MAAC may want to cycle between these options so as
to not waste money.
Her
final recommendation was to donate from $2000 to $2,500 to the Gardner fund at
Catholic University. Pres. Barber
asked if these funds would be used for a scholarship and this question developed
into a broader discussion of the Gardner Memorial fund.
A member affiliated with Catholic University stated that the fund would
support North American archaeology research by students at Catholic University
through small stipends and that over time, the institution sought to generate
sufficient funds ($50,000) for a permanent endowment.
As background for making a decision, Wayne Clark inquired as to MAAC’s
budgetary needs and the discretionary funds MAAC had available.
Carol Ebright commented MAAC’s profits largely come from the
conferences and attendance at those events.
The Cavalier Hotel has been expensive, although conference income covered
those costs, whereas the Princess Royale in Ocean City was cheaper and MAAC
generated greater profits at that location.
Pres. Barber added that while MAAC’s membership dues support the
journal, the conference usually pays for itself and/or generates profits, with
the latter accumulating over the years into the $19,000+ amount currently in the
treasury. Barber reinforced that we
should only commit to a given amount per year, based on available funds.
In response, Wayne Clark moved that MAAC allocate $2500 to the fund in
honor of Bill Gardner as a founding and long-standing MAAC member and
contributor. Another member seconded
this motion.
Pres.
Barber then asked for discussion of the motion, including the issue of whether
or not Catholic University will continue to have an archaeology program within
its anthropology department and, for example, if Catholic University planned to
replace Bill Gardner with another archaeologist.
The member from that institution responded that when Gardner retired, his
position was not filled. Pres.
Barber reiterated the question as to the use of the memorial fund, and the
member replied that there is still an archaeologist teaching within the program
and that the Gardner funds would both support visiting scholars and adjunct
faculty at the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Secretary Sanford asked for clarification on this point, noting that the
funds apparently would go to different uses, ranging from faculty support to
student research. The response to
this question was that the funds would support both uses.
Upon further expressions of concern about possible ambiguity in the
fund’s use, Dave Mudge noted that MAAC can’t influence the fund’s exact
nature since that is decided by Catholic University.
Clark commented that MAAC still should focus on making a contribution in
Bill Gardner’s memory.
Bernard
Means added that there’s still concern about the funds given the uncertain,
long-term viability of various programs at Catholic University as recently
reported in the Washington Post. Pres.
Barber replied that he agreed with Wayne Clark and that MAAC’s contribution
would be a proper memorial to Gardner and that our donation is a one-time act.
Dennis Pogue agreed with Barber, restating that the contribution would be
a one-time gift rather than a long term process of giving.
The motion was passed by voice vote, including that the funds would be
used for student research and teaching.
Pres.
Barber asked if the membership wanted to discuss further recommendations for
spending MAAC funds in the coming year. Carol
Ebright, as MAAC’s Treasurer, commented that MAAC should hold the line at this
contribution for one year, to which the membership agreed.
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Conference Report:
Arrangement
co-chairs: Carole Nash reported that last year’s conference made a profit
of about $3,000. This year’s
results include that the Book Room yielded a profit of $29.55 (which is a better
result than last year in which we didn’t break even) and that given our
conference income, the monies taken in should allow us to break even.
Total attendance came to about 245 people.
Pres. Barber added that only 34 people participated in the field trip
this year and that event yielded about $100 in profit.
Later in the meeting Nash added that the Council of Virginia
Archaeologists (COVA) contributed $400 to the conference, for which she
expressed our gratitude.
Program
co-chairs: Dennis Pogue and
George Tolley reported that 185 participants pre-registered with checks and that
59 people registered at the door for a total of 244.
There were not any “no-shows” with respect to speakers.
A total of 88 papers were presented, along with four posters and two
workshops, in 12 sessions. The
majority of pre-registration attendance came from the following states: Virginia
(75), Maryland (32), Pennsylvania (32), New Jersey (12), and North Carolina
(11). A total of 12 states were
represented and other locations included Washington, D.C. and one province in
Canada.
Tolley thought we had a strong program this year and stated that he
appreciated everyone’s support and participation.
He indicated that he looked forward to the results of the Sunday
workshops with respect to attendance, with these results possibly guiding future
conference planning. At past
conferences extremely low attendance had marked the paper sessions on Sunday.
Similarly, Pogue mentioned that the conference began earlier on Friday so
as to avoid papers on Sunday, with this structure offering a potential model to
future conferences. Tolley added that by Friday morning approximately 125 of the
pre-registrants had arrived and about 25-30 people had registered at the door,
making a total of approximately 150 people at the start of the conference, a
quite respectable result.
Pres.
Barber thought the conference contained papers both high in quality and regional
in scope, and suggested those presentations, including from organized sessions,
be forwarded to the journal. He
hoped such an arrangement could be a pattern for upcoming conferences.
He then asked the membership for a round of applause for the Arrangements
and Program chairs, a request with which the audience complied.
In return Dennis Pogue commended Mike Barber for his assistance with the
lithics session, those who organized other sessions, and those responsible for
the Maryland underwater session, which came into unexpectedly and added more
variety to the program. Pogue
finally added that people should remember that MAAC offers a convenient venue
for presenting a session of their choice. Finally,
Carole Nash stated her desire that MAAC return to having a student session.
Pres. Barber and Secretary Sanford noted that last year Sanford and Josh
Duncan from Mary Washington College, along with Clarence Geier from James
Madison University headed that effort. Pogue
commented that attempts were made to develop a student session this year, but to
no avail. Josh Duncan and Carole
Nash, based on an earlier conversation today, further stressed the desire to
have the student session become a regular feature of the conference.
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Other Old Business:
Logo:
Pres. Barber commented on the long-standing problem of obtaining the
logo for the organization and requested assistance from those with artistic
and/or digital skills. He noted that
he does have a hard copy of the logo from former President Chris Bergman.
Bernard Means offered to help on this matter.
Newsletter:
Pres. Barber reported that he distributed a “news page” form of
newsletter with one of the calls for papers mailings.
He indicated that the newsletter should go out in the period between
conferences, such as in July, and could contain information about the
conference’s location and committee reports.
It also could go out with the call for award nominations.
MAAC
website: Pres. Barber asked for
the membership’s opinion of the organization’s website.
Do people consider it satisfactory or does it need changes?
Carole Nash replied that she’d like to see the logo added to the
website. Barber agreed and in noting
a point from today’s Executive Board meeting, replied that the logo could be
made interactive and by clicking on the states one could obtain information on
archaeological activities and organizations in those areas. Pres. Barber also
stated that he thought MAAC needed a more pro-active webmaster, including
someone who would go out and solicit information.
Bernard Means agreed and pointed out that the theory session information,
including the solicitation for papers at this year’s conference, didn’t go
on the website until quite close to the meeting.
Pres. Barber agreed to the need for timely posting.
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Issue
of the former Poster Committee: Upon
Faye Stocum’s urging, Pres. Barber turned discussion to the issue of MAAC’s
marketing and the Poster Committees, including Ned Heite’s lack of involvement
and responsibility in this instance. Barber
asked if any members were interested in taking up this matter.
Wayne Clark responded by making a motion to table the poster concept and
to pay greater attention to group e-mails and state archaeological newsletters.
Faye responded that the Marketing Committee suggested focusing efforts (via a
poster) on college and university anthropology departments and states’
archaeology week/month programs. Wayne
commented that we could conduct such activities on the website, while the poster
might remain an expensive luxury. Pres.
Barber agreed with Wayne Clark and suggested that we target anthropology
departments and state societies through Internet connections.
George Tolley seconded Wayne’s motion.
Pres. Barber added that if we scrap the poster concept, then we should
focus on other ways to increase MAAC’s membership and visibility.
The motion to disband the Poster Committee and its intended product was
approved by voice vote from the audience.
Continuing
the general discussion, Wayne Clark suggested we could use our website and
e-mail system to send group messages concerning MAAC’s usual deadlines and
activities, rather than depending on physical mailings.
Pres. Barber replied that we should have a membership-wide e-mail roster,
along with address listings for state-wide organizations and anthropology
programs at institutions. Dave Mudge
suggested that such information could be sent with MAAC’s newsletter and its
application for membership. Liz
Crowell asked Roger Moeller if he had a “master e-mail” listing for
archaeologists in the region, but he responded that he has computer problems at
present. In a discussion between
Wayne Clark and Roger, it was noted that the MAAC journal does not identify or
draw attention to the MAAC website. Bernard
Means reiterated the ongoing problems of MAAC’s “static” website and its
need to better handle the above suggestions and maintain current information.
Pres. Barber indicated that he would compile a master e-mail listing for
MAAC and would work on this issue with Member-at-Large Dave Mudge.
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NEW BUSINESS
2004
Conference (place/date, program, program chair):
Based on an earlier discussion of the Executive Board, a recommendation
was made that the meeting be held either in one of the last two weeks of March
or the first week of April. Bernard
Means inquired as to the meeting date of SAA in order to avoid scheduling
conflicts, and the date was determined to be the first week in April at
Montreal. Faye Stocum reminded
everyone that we receive lower hotel rates prior to Easter.
President-Elect Cara Blume mentioned that she could not attend during the
third week of March because she had a conflict with a Native American conference
in Virginia. Upon further discussion
Pres. Barber decided that we would opt for having the conference in the last
weekend of March as our first choice, with the second weekend of March standing
as our second choice.
The
discussion then turned to arrangements and location, with Pres. Barber
commenting that after two years in Virginia Beach it was time to head northward.
He added that we could return to Ocean City, Maryland at the Princess
Royale hotel, which was a profitable location.
Barber asked for volunteers to make general contacts and Ed Otter
volunteered to undertake the task and look at other Maryland venues as well.
Otter also volunteered to work as the arrangements co-chair, handling the
hotel, rooms, food and drink, etc. Bernard
Means, based on his earlier offer to investigate another location, reported that
hotel prices and other costs were too high at Solomon’s Island, Maryland, and
that location was not approved. Otter
mentioned that he is not willing to handle on-site registration for the next
meeting, so Pres. Barber replied that he would undertake on-site registration if
no one else does. The matter of
audio-visual equipment and saving funds by not having to rent such equipment
from the hotel was discussed and clarified as a matter for the arrangements and
program chairs. Wayne Clark offered
to work with Otter on the conference support from Maryland’s professional
societies, organizations, and parks. Carole Nash reinforced that MAAC needs to
guarantee 85 rooms in order to obtain the conference rate from a hotel, and
Pres. Barber commented that for this meeting we had 98 rooms on Friday and 84 on
Saturday.
In
establishing a program chair Bernard Means offered his services.
He expressed concern as to the proximity of the SAA meeting to our
intended late March gathering and said he preferred the second week of March.
Pres. Barber agreed with this point and the membership revised the first
choice for the 2004 meeting date to mid-March.
Barber asked if Means needed assistance with the historical archaeology
side of the program. Means responded
that he’s okay handling that issue, but did need help with
office/institutional support for the program as a whole.
Wayne Clark agreed to assist Means in this regard.
Pres.
Barber requested that the audience suggest topics for next year’s conference.
Cara Blume stated that she planned to do another Native American
participation session and suggested that MAAC should invite regional tribal
associations to our meeting. Howard
MacCord indicated that he would like to see more discussions during the sessions
and suggested that we even schedule debates, such as on “hot” topics. Jack
Hranicky suggested a session on experimental archaeology and its contributions
to mainstream archaeology. Ed Otter
suggested we have roundtable breakfasts on Sunday morning.
Bernard Means responded to MacCord by agreeing to promote scheduled
discussion and question/answer times. Wayne
Clark added that we could have 10 minutes of discussion for every three papers.
Carole Nash suggested alternative strategies of either reducing papers to
15 minutes or cutting the number of papers per session to allow more group
discussion. Pres. Barber responded
that he was not in favor of reducing the number of papers since that affects the
number of speakers and registrants we’ll have.
He also opposed having 15 minute papers (as too short), but would leave
such decisions up to the program chair.
Carole
Nash reiterated her earlier call for another student session.
Liz Crowell suggested a session could focus on archaeology by public
agencies. Finally, Bernard Means
suggested a session on settlement and community patterns.
Announcements:
Dave Mudge reminded people of the upcoming ESAF conference and that he
would like to meet with anyone involved in ESAF immediately after this meeting.
The meeting was
adjourned at 8:45 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Douglas W. Sanford
Recording Secretary
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