Rafael Leal

Calls for Nominations: Members of the Executive Council and ERC

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The Screenwriting Research Network has released two Calls for Nominations:

The first is to the SRN Executive Council, as three (3) members will be elected at the next AGM to fill the expected vacancies and serve for two academic years (2021-22 and 2022-23). More information about this call can be found here.

The second is to serve as Early Career Researchers representative (ECR) on the SRN Executive Council for the academic year 2021-22. This is an appointment made by the Executive Council (i.e. no election), as with any co-opted member as per SRN Constitution. More information about the ECR role and the call can be found here.

SRN welcomes all nominations from the Membership!

SRN Constitution amended

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The SRN Constitution, adopted in 16th September 2012, at the Sydney AGM, received a second amendment in 21st June 2021.

The updated version can be found here.

SRN Executive Minutes – May 2021

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MINUTES of SRN EC Meeting

Monday 17.5.2021 at 10 pm BST/GMT/UTC+1 (via Zoom)

Circulation list: Carmen Sofia Brenes (CSB), Rose Ferrell (RF), Ann Igelström (AI), Rafael Leal (RL), Margaret McVeigh (MM), Paolo Russo (PR), Rosanne Welch (RW)

Agenda

1. Apologies for absence

RL

2. Minutes of previous EC Meeting for approval

Approved as accurate. PR to send final version to RL for upload to website, as usual.

All pending Action Points have been either discharged or itemized below in the agenda.

3. Proposed amendments to SRN Constitution (PR, All)

PR circulated a memo (see attached) with the proposed amendments to the SRN Constitution: specifically, these would apply to articles 7.1 and 5.9 so as to formally allow holding AGMs and EC Elections by virtual means in cases of force majeure. External advice was also sought from other members of the SRN in good standing – i.e. Ian W. Macdonald, Eva Novrup Redvall and Claus Tieber – all of whom gave positive feedback. 

CSB suggests seeking advice from a few more members as well: e.g. Kirsi Rinne and Ronald Geerts. 

ACTION: PR to consult a few more members before finalising the draft with the proposed amendments.

It was noted that the proposed amendments are in line with the SRN Constitution anyway, especially with the existing provision of article 7.6 which allows the use of “technology” to consult the Membership on relevant issues. A key aspect to take into due account is to make sure that whatever the chosen technology it will give easy access to the Membership worldwide.

CSB asks whether there will still be a “confirmation vote” on the amendments (assuming the motion is carried) at the next AGM held in presentia. PR confirms this is the plan.

Regarding the clause requiring two thirds of the currently active Membership to pass the motion for the proposed amendments, CSB and MM raise concerns about the likelihood that as many members will reply via email or respond to the Call at all. PR clarifies that the Call to Membership will make it very clear that those who don’t cast their vote will be treated as giving “silent consent”. This is also the case at any AGM held in presentia, which is usually ever attended by a fraction of the membership. 

PR stresses the importance of giving enough notice and time to the Membership to cast their vote: this could be 30 days (or 4 weeks) from the CTM, with a view to collect all votes and ratify the result by the June EC meeting.

The EC approves the draft of the proposed amendments as is, as well as the suggested action protocol to issue the Call to Membership and appoint an external scrutineer. 

ACTION: PR, RW, RF and RL as per attached memo.

4. Update on SRN2021 Seminar Series Online (PR, All)

On the back of having attended about 20 online conferences/seminars in the past few months, PR will suggest that all paper presentations be pre-recorded to avoid technical issues. This will also allow for better use of the chosen video-conferencing tool. Once a schedule/format is finalized in the next few weeks, PR will send out guidelines to the delegates. Following the pre-recorded presentations, there will be live sessions for related discussion fora, for a maximum of 5-6 hours per day. 

PR will redesign the SRN2021 website over the Summer to make it work as the main content navigation hub for the Seminar Series.

After surveying all shortlisted delegates intention to participate, at the moment PR reports expecting 93 papers. Live sessions will have to be planned by geographic areas due to the 20 different time zones involved. Within each geographic area, panels can then be formed according to themes/topics. PR suggests one-hour slots per panels of 3-4 speakers each who will each give 5-minute summaries of their paper, followed by up to 30 minutes questions/discussion. Questions can also be collected via asynchronous means in the hope to allow many points of access for fullest sharing of ideas.

“Plenary” sessions will still include two keynote speakers (Murray Smith and Elizabeth Kilgarriff have confirmed availability but PR will follow up with them anyway in the next few weeks); the AGM, including the EC elections (this session will be run twice so as to allow as many members as possible from different time zones to attend); and the SRN Awards, including the winners’ lectures.

Moreover, round tables and networking meetings with the Working Group are possible. PR is also planning to invite a few professionals from the industry as special guests (pending availability). 

All live sessions will be recorded and will remain online via the SRN2021 website (until subscription expires). 

MM congratulates PR on the planning work and observes it can be challenging to stay attentive to papers for longer than 20 minutes. RF agrees with MM on ‘short and sharp’ presentations. 

MM suggests taking advantage of the switch to the online format and invite shorter presentations to allow for a more interactive conference, with abstracts on the website to contextualize the presentation. It also means that the overall time and, hopefully the organizational efforts, will be reduced, thus making for a leaner event in terms of scheduling.

PR welcomes the suggestions and will make sure that there is a degree of flexibility in the format of the presentations. The overall event format is still work in progress and any suggestions are welcome. For instance, PR suggests that the comments section of the video-presentations on YouTube could be enabled to allow speakers and members to comment asynchronously, regardless of when any live session is scheduled.

MM asks whether there will be a registration fee. PR confirms that, as things stand, the plan is for the whole event to be free: the School of Arts at Oxford Brookes University has agreed to fund the few expenses to cover keynote speakers’ fee and the prize money for the SRN Awards. However, delegates will still be asked to register in order to receive the Zoom links/passwords etc.

MM asks whether there might be any copyright issues to consider regarding speakers’ papers being posted online. PR underlines that rights to whatever materials/content will be posted will be retained by the delegates in accordance with the laws of their respective countries. PR and RL will figure out a way to make sure that only registered delegates have access to those materials. 

PR also confirms that, based on current laws (e.g. the Copyright License Agreement), it is possible to make fair use of clips or other copyrighted materials within the paper presentation as it is for education/research purposes, as long as sources are quoted.

PR outlines alternative scheduling options: e.g. two days weekly with no parallel sessions or one day weekly with two parallel sessions, for a total of four weeks; also possible, every other week or two consecutive weeks, a one-week break, then two more weeks.

RW would prefer a programme with parallel sessions so as to stick with one particular day a week, also in light of the fact the many colleagues will have started teaching at their respective universities; whereas, too many days might cause more timetabling clashes. RF also agrees that parallel sessions will keep the members more interested and focused.

The EC agrees tentatively on the following format: one day weekly with parallel live sessions whenever necessary/viable, beginning the week commencing on Monday 30 August 2021 for two weeks, then two more weeks after a one-week break.

ACTION: PR to work out format based on the above.

AI is also planning an ECR Symposium (see minutes from previous meetings). Assuming the SRN2021 Seminar Series Online will follow the format suggested above, this means that it will be over by the end of September. The ECR Symposium can therefore follow up in November as a separate, distinct but, at the same time, related event.

PR notes that at least one fourth of the shortlisted delegates for SRN2021 are ECRs anyway and therefore having the Symposium later in November will allow them to take part in both should they wish so.

MM hopes that PR will have people to help on this planning. PR confirms that a couple of colleagues from his department will be helping out as well as several other SRN members from other geographic areas who have offered to assist once the format is settled.

5. Other updates:

  • Newsletter

MM reports about the latest issue published in April, which attracted less submissions than usual. The next issue should come out in June/July and could be a special issue focused around the SRN2021 Seminar Series. PR will pass on relevant information as the organization progresses in the forthcoming weeks.

  • Social media

AI notes that posting has slowed down slightly in the last few weeks, perhaps due to everyone’s awaiting info on the conference.

ACTION: AI to post info on CTM re: the amendments to the SRN Constitution as soon as ready; then to focus on the Seminar Series and, finally, on the ECR Symposium (including a CfP) in the forthcoming weeks.

  • Items for June meeting agenda to include: Results of CTM (see above), EC Elections Call for Nominations, Membership update, planning of EC Annual report and Activities Plan for 2021-22

The EC approves the suggested agenda for the June meeting.

6. Any other business

There was no other business to discuss.

 

Date of next meeting: Monday 21 June 2021, 10 pm BST/GMT/UTC+1 (consider DST; refer to shared DOC for each country’s time zone)

SRN2021 Research Seminar Series Online

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Dear SRN2021 Delegates and SRN Members,

Finally!

I am now able to announce the proposed format and dates for the SRN2021 Research Seminar Series Online (replacing the SRN2021 Annual Conference originally due to be hosted in Oxford). You will find all the facts and info here below: be prepared, it’s a long list with lots of bullet points (if more convenient you can find all the details in the enclosed PDF as well). It goes without saying, this is the initial plan with lots of TBCs and TBDs yet to be sorted out, and therefore things may still change.

 

FORMAT

–       [BEFORE] Papers: pre-recorded 15-minute presentations (to be made available in advance via the event website; so far we expecting as many as 90). Delegates are asked to watch as many as possible so as to enable lively discussions during the relevant live sessions.

–       [DURING] Live sessions (via Zoom, see dates below):

o   24x chaired Q&A panels (3-4 papers each): each speaker will be asked to give a 3-minute abstract of their respective pre-recorded paper presentations, followed by 30-35’ interactive discussion (chairs will be able to collect questions from all attendees – in person or via the chat boxes – during as well as before their live sessions).

o   2x Keynote speakers.

o   2x AGMs (includes EC elections): the same session run twice, to cover all time zones.

o   SRN Awards: prize winners announced by Jury + 2x winners’ 30-minute lectures.

o   2x Working Groups (TBC)

o   1 or 2 Round Tables (TBD)

o   1x Projects and Collaborations (TBD)

o   “Happy hours”: at the end of many live sessions attendees will be able to stay online for one more hour of networking, informal chatting, etc.

–       [AFTER] Bonus content (via Zoom, TBC):

o   Special guests (TBD)

o   1 or 2 “SRN in Conversation with…” (TBD)

o   SRN Early Career Researchers 2021 Symposium (November, TBC)

 

DATES

[BEFORE] Pre-recorded presentations

All shortlisted speakers will be asked to submit a pre-recorded 15-minute presentation of their paper in advance so as to give all delegates enough time to watch as many as possible before the scheduled live sessions. Please plan to record and submit your presentations according to the following rules of thumb:

–       Ideal world deadline for submission: ASAP in June/July. In other words, start now and submit as soon as you can.

–       Formal deadline: 31 July 2021, however…

–       “If-you-still-can’t-make-it” deadline: any time after that, in the awareness that the later you submit, the less time other delegates will have to watch it.

 

Guidelines for recording and submitting presentations:

–       File type for submission: MP4

–       Is there a maximum file size: no, but on average a 15-minute mp4 file tends to be 3-600 MB.

–       How do I submit my MP4 file? Hopefully, I will be able to set up a dedicated submission dropbox to share with everyone ASAP. Until then, a few options are:

o   Upload it to your GoogleDrive/OneDrive or similar, than share it with me, or

o   Upload it to DropBox and share it with me, or

o   Send it to me via WeTransfer

Pick anyone that you can use for free.

–       Maximum duration: 15 minutes. In my experience, slightly shorter pre-recorded presentation are much more effective than longer ones and consider the subsequent live session/Q&A an integral (if delayed) part of your presentation as well. As a rule of thumb, begin the recording by introducing your core research question briefly, avoid excessive contextualizing/framing, then argue your 3-4 main points concisely and leave the audience wanting for more during the live session (when you can have all your other notes at hand to complement your presentation).

–       What device should you use to record your presentation? Any – PC, Mac, tablet, phone, camera, webcam, Zoom recording (or similar), etc.

–       What format should your presentation be? Again, any, as long as it suits the presentation. Examples include but are not limited to:

o   You simply reading your paper to camera

o   A PowerPoint/Keynote presentation + you reading your paper as Voice Over

o   A PowerPoint/Keynote presentation + you reading your paper to camera in PiP in one corner of the screen

  • Note: if you use slides (in any app) summarize the main points of your arguments as opposed to cram them with long paragraphs pasted verbatim from your paper.

o   A video-essay (either formal, creative, performative)

o   A podcast-like presentation (audio only, no video)

o   A mix of the above

–       Can you embed clips/include citations in your presentations? Yes, you can, within “fair use” limits as you would normally do in an in-person paper presentation, as long as you cite sources correctly.

o   Try to limit the use of embedded clips anyway as they will eat away time from your 15-minute allocation. If available, it is best to provide links/references to freely available online resources that can be consulted by delegates when watching your presentations. Remember that delegates will watch presentations in asynchronous before the live sessions and therefore they are not bound to the 15-minute limit of the presentation itself.

 

[DURING] Live sessions

 

Five (5) dates for your calendar!

 

  • Monday 30 August
  • Friday 3 September
  • Wednesday 8 September
  • Monday 13 September
  • Friday 17 September

 

In the past year I have attended about 20 online conferences/festivals/events/seminar series trying to figure out what works best and what not. I can say, without a doubt, that:

–       Those who tried to simply transfer their original in-person conference schedule/format online failed regularly. It simply won’t work like that online.

–       Attending any online event for more than 3-4 hours straight is most counterproductive, let alone full-day sessions (I managed to attend one that started at 8.30 am and ended at 10 pm for three days – I will abstain from adding any comments).

–       Events that schedule several days in a row tend to see their audience wane exponentially the longer they went on.

–       On the other hand, events that scheduled sessions are regular intervals every few days over a few weeks (essentially turning into a “series” of dates) generally worked rather well.

 

So, on the five days listed above we will have:

–       All our papers Q&A sessions: these will all be one-hour slots – 50 mins. discussion + 10’ break (see above for some more details)

–       Keynotes, AGMs, Round Tables, SRN Awards: these will likely be 75-90 mins.

 

TIME ZONES

After much thinking, calculating, trialling and errors, I can confirm that we will follow two main criteria for scheduling our live sessions: 1) by time zone/geographic area, and 2) thematic grouping (based on papers’ keywords/content).

However, I have realized that the best way to proceed is to split our planet/time zones into 2 big regions rather than 3. This takes into account the fact that, although we do have speakers whose geolocation spans 20 time zones, the vast majority are still from Europe. Therefore, the following schedule will divide each Live Session Day into two slots of roughly 4 hours each:

 

US West US

East

 South America Western Europe Central Europe & Africa Eastern Europe Middle East India Western Australia Japan & Central Australia Eastern Australia New Zealand
Slot 1 24-4 3-7 4-8 8-12 9-13 10-14 11-15 12.30-16.30 15-19 16-20 (+30’) 17-21 20-24
Slot 2 9-13 12-16 13-17 17-21 18-22 19-23 20-24 21.30-1.30 24-4 1-5 (+30’) 2-6 5-9

 

While it’s basically impossible to have colleagues from the Americas and from Asia-Pacific attending live simultaneously (unless they decide to burn the past-midnight oil), the above will allow for the largest and broadest possible audience: Slot 1 will be on in the morning (for Western and Central Europe), early afternoon (for Eastern Europe, Africa, Middle East and India), and in the late afternoon/evening (for Asia-Pacific countries); a 5-hour break will then be followed by Slot 2, which will allow attendance at decent hours for colleagues in the US (morning and early afternoon), in South America (late afternoon), in Europe and Africa (late afternoon/evening), as well as in the Middle and India (albeit in the late evening).

The AGM will be run in both slots so as to give everyone the same chance to attend and participate in the discussion and in the EC Elections.

By the way, as you know, you have time until Sunday 20 June 2021, 3 pm (UK time) to vote the motion to amend two articles of the SRN Constitution (see email sent out on 20th May) to enable hosting AGMs and EC elections virtually. You will receive plenty of details soon enough once the results are in, so I won’t add any here.

 

ZOOM AND RECORDINGS

In all likelihood, we’ll be using Zoom for our live sessions. As I will be setting up all sessions, I will be able to use my University’s license which grants unlimited use and allows for up to 1,000 participants in Meeting mode (the one with interactive audience, as opposed to the boring Webinar mode, where only hosts and speakers can be seen and heard).

I will then make all chairs and speakers co-hosts.

It doesn’t matter whether you or your university have a Zoom license: once you register for a session, you will receive a link to attend freely. You will be able to log in to Zoom either within your browser or you can download the Zoom app for free on any device.

We are also exploring the possibility of streaming the live sessions via YouTube and/or Facebook: this option won’t require prior registration and logging it to Zoom, but you may not be able to interact with the speakers and the other delegates (yes, I know, we can use the chat boxes on YouTube and Facebook as well, but that will depend on how many people will be on hand to help out in any given session – so let’s say we will follow up on this with more precise details in due course).

We will record all live sessions so as to make them available via the SRN2021 website to all those delegates and members who cannot attend live. However, we will likely require registration to access all recorded content.

 

[AFTER] Bonus content

 I am trying to organize a few extra events that will hopefully make SRN 2021 an even more lively and engaging event. I have contacted a few guests from the industry (writers, producers, a few policymakers) and am awaiting their responses regarding their availability to join us for some informal conversations and Q&A. If available, I will leave them the option to choose from either a live session or a pre-recorded one to be then shared with you. In any case, as a rule these extra sessions will be at later dates in September/October (unless their availability is limited to one of the dates above, in which case we might want to shuffle things around a bit).

The same goes for another possible type of extra session. As you will remember, a couple of months ago the Executive Committee launched the first of a series of recorded sessions titled “SRN in Conversation with…” past conference organizers with the aim of building a memory archive or our main events and activities of the past 15 years. We have more in the pipeline, and it might well be that one or two could be planned for the Autumn. In which case, again, we have a choice of pre-recording it, just like the first one, or going live and give access to all of you for more interactivity.

Finally, we also have one more event in store for you – likely to be in November 2021. The Early Career Researcher Symposium will be announced later in June (via a regular CfP) and will be organized by our ECR rep on the EC, Ann Igelström. Although the ECR Symposium will be a stand-alone event in its own right and with its own format, we can consider it as a great closing event to what is going to be a very exciting Autumn season despite having to postpone meeting in person for another year. All ECR will be eligible to submit a proposal for the Symposium, including those who will participate in the Seminar Series in September should they wish so. Stay tuned for more soon!

So… Is that all? Pretty much but not necessarily. If you have any further suggestions, just throw them our way and we can discuss whether they can make a good addition to this programme of online activities.

 

Help needed!

Many of you have already come forward to help out with the Seminar Series. Thank you ever so much to all of you and I will be contacting each one of you in the next few weeks: perhaps we can arrange a Zoom briefing session so we all get together and get an idea of what I might need from you apart from the usual chairing. Although, in principle, some help in coordinating by geographic area might be the main priority.

 

Website and registration

Most pages on what used to be the SRN2020 website are now disabled as I am redesigning it and repurposing it for the SRN2021 Seminar Series Online. The idea is to make the website the go-to navigation platform for the event, with lots of useful features, a repository for the pre-recorded presentations, links to everything (recordings and live sessions), guidelines, as well as a thematic map of the content shared by everyone. After all, our Annual conferences (and their current virtual replacement) are all about exchanging our research findings, networking, finding shared interests, etc. I will do my best to make sure that the website enables all this in the best possible way. I have also obtained some funds to purchase a Business WordPress domain which means all the event content will be available to registered delegates/members for the next two years at last, so the exchanges are not limited to the live interaction next September.

As soon as the website is ready, it will include instructions to register to attend the SRN2021 Research Seminar Series Online. Registration will be FREE but required as it will give us the chance to monitor and optimize access to all content and sessions, and avoid any uninvited guests (e.g. Zoom bombing and similar).

* * *

 

Quite a lot to digest already, but more (and more precise) information yet to come in the forthcoming weeks.

Any clarification needed, just give me a shout.

 

Take very good care of yourselves

Best

Paolo Russo BA PhD

Screenwriting Research Network Chairperson

 

A PDF version of this text can be accessed here.

Call to Membership – Motion to amend two articles of the SRN constitution

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CALL TO MEMBERSHIP

20 May 2020

MOTION TO AMEND TWO ARTICLES OF THE SRN CONSTITUTION

(ACTION REQUIRED)

 

This Call to Membership (CTM) is posted to all SRN Members via the SRN mailing list and is available on the SRN Website as well. It aims to consult and call all Members to vote a proposed amendment to two articles of the SRN Constitution (available here): more specifically, articles 7.1 and 5.9 regarding, respectively, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and the Elections to the Executive Council (EC). These are minor amendments aimed at avoiding possible logjams in the future in case of force majeure. If the motion carries, these amendments will allow us to run AGMs and EC Elections via virtual means if necessary, including this year.

 

Members are invited to read the full details of the proposed amendments below and to cast their vote by clicking HERE by no later than Sunday 20 June 2021, 3 pm (UK time). As per SRN Constitution (10.2) all active members of at least one year’s standing are eligible to vote. 

Claus Tieber has been appointed by the EC as independent scrutineer. 

When voting, members can express one of the following preferences:

  1. Approve
  2. Object
  3. Abstain

IMPORTANT: Note that any members who wishes to abstain must formally express such preference on the ballot form; non-responses will be considered “silent consent”. 

The motion will carry (i.e. the amendments will be approved) if passed by no less than two thirds of the eligible members. The result will be ratified at the next meeting of the EC scheduled on Monday 21 June 2021. However, given the current extraordinary circumstances, if passed the motion will be subject to final confirmatory vote at the next AGM in presentia, to be held in Vienna in 2022.

 

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS

Key:

Blue – Excerpts from current Constitution

Red – Proposed amendments

 

AGM

7.1. There shall be a General Meeting of the membership held annually. This will be called by the Executive Council, which will give two months’ notice of the date and location of the AGM.

Suggested amendments:

7.1. There shall be a General Meeting of the membership held annually (Annual General Meeting, AGM). This will be called by the Executive Council, which will give two months’ notice of the date and location of the AGM. 

7.1a. The AGM will normally be held in person at a specified location (i.e. usually, the location of the Annual Conference).

7.1b. Where, due to force majeure, it is not possible or reasonable to hold the AGM in person at a specified physical location, it may exceptionally be held virtually (e.g. through video-conferencing) albeit with analogous procedures provided that reasonable steps are taken to ensure the broadest participation possible.

EC ELECTIONS

5.9. Elections to the Executive Council will be conducted by secret ballot, by means appropriate to an international Association (e.g. by postal ballot with proof of membership, added to votes received at an AGM etc.). 

Suggested amendments:

5.9. Elections to the Executive Council will be conducted by secret ballot, by means appropriate to an international Association: these may include votes received at an AGM as well as postal ballot, e-mail, e-messages, web-based survey tools and other means with proof of membership, provided that appropriate anonymity arrangements are in place.

 

* * *

 

With very best wishes

 

SRN Executive Council

SRN Executive Minutes – April 2021

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Minutes of SRN EC Meeting

Monday 19.4.2021 at 10 pm BST/GMT/UTC+1 (via Zoom)

Circulation list: Carmen Sofia Brenes (CSB), Rose Ferrell (RF), Ann Igelström (AI), Rafael Leal (RL), Margaret McVeigh (MM), Paolo Russo (PR), Rosanne Welch (RW)

Agenda

  • Apologies for absence

MM

  • Minutes of previous EC Meeting for approval

All pending Action Points have been itemized below in the agenda.  

The minutes are approved by the EC as accurate. RL will upload on the website to make them available to the Membership as per usual.

  • Update on SRN2021 conference (PR, All)

PR submits a memo to the EC for approval, outlining pros and cons considering all information available at present. The main unresolved issues are: in-person events will still require safety measures in place (face covering, social distancing etc.) and restrictions (even extreme ones such as total travel bans) will be in place for incoming visitors to the UK. In short, IF all goes well the UK should lift restrictions and allow public events by the end of June 2021, but with quarantine and testing protocols in place. However, the above still does not take into account situations in all the delegates’ countries. Finally, academic travel and insurance will likely not allow members to participate.

The EC agrees unanimously that the conditions to run the SRN2021 Conference safely in presentia in Oxford are not met and therefore it will be cancelled and replaced by an alternative online event.

Re: the suggested online alternative event, PR confirms that: 1) The School of Arts at Oxford Brookes University will fund the keynote speakers, the SRN Awards money prizes, and the event’s website subscription for two more years; 2) The two keynote speakers (i.e. Murray Smith and Elizabeth Kilgarriff) have confirmed their availability, regardless of the event format. 

PR and AI have met to discuss the inclusion of a proposed Early Career Researchers event as part of the SRN2021 online event as well.

PR suggests splitting up the planning of the event sessions based on geographic regions/time zones, scheduling one or two days every few weeks in September/October/November. There could be an opening day for plenaries (e.g. keynotes) and a closing day at the end for the Awards and the AGM.  PR is also in talks with more special guests from the industry (TBC).  

All presentations can/should be pre-recorded and circulated via the SRN YouTube Channel before the event in preparation for the relevant Q&A sessions to be run live via Zoom. Both the pre-recorded presentations and the recordings of all live sessions will remain accessible after the event for further access and research.

RF notes that it would be exciting to bring in practitioners to enhance the online experience. 

PR points out that the EC will have to discuss an amendment to the SRN Constitution to allow the running of the AGM online as well as an alternative protocol for the EC elections. Such amendment will have to get Membership approval and formally confirmed/voted/seconded at the next in-person AGM in Vienna in 2022.

ACTION: EC to discuss amendment to SRN Constitution in May 2021 meeting.

ACTION: PR will email Membership tomorrow re: SRN2021 cancellation. RL to post announcement on the website and AI to post on Facebook page. 

ACTION:  PR to draft memo for alternative online event in forthcoming weeks.

PR also reports back from a meeting he had with the SRN Award Jury members recently. The Jurors agreed to hold the Awards this year even in case SRN2021 will have to switch to an online alternative event, also to avoid having 3 years’ worth of nominations in 2021. Janet Staiger also suggested (seconded by the other Jurors as well) that the Jury should inform the EC and the winners in advance (likely by August 2021), so that the Awards can be turned into mini event with the two winners giving short lectures about the underpinning research of their publications. The EC approves and commends the suggestion.

PR also met online with Claus Tieber re: SRN2022 Vienna to be announced during the online alternative event this coming autumn. The SRN2022 Conference will take place at the University of Vienna, Austria, on 29th-30th September and 1st of October, 2022.

The option of pushing/rescuing Oxford as a conference host city in 2025 will be discussed next academic year.

  • Other updates:

  • Social media

AI sums up upcoming scheduled Facebook posts: Cancellation of SRN2021, ECR event once planned, a reminder of the SRN Awards deadline at end of May, a scholarships as per email received from Craig Batty. 

  • Website

RL confirms that the formal renewal process of the website hosting by the University of Leeds is underway although not complete yet. 

RL also reports stats re: users’ access to the website. UK, US, China and Australia top the stat, with  Sunday mornings being the busiest. 

PR proposed to hold off updating/revamping of the website once renewal of host is finalized and once the more urgent matters re: the AGM, the EC elections and the SRN2021 online event are dealt with.

  • Newsletter

MM informed PR that she has sent out a final reminder and that a few pieces are for the upcoming issue. The next issue will include updated info on SRN2021.  

  • Any other business

 

RF suggests implementing the use of a new membership online form. RL is available to create it.

RF updates the EC on the “We Welcome All” banner. RL confirm we will have to wait completion of the website host renewal from University of Leeds first as we need to find out which application they prefer us to use for it.

 

Date of next meeting: Monday 17 May 2021, 10 pm BST/GMT/UTC+1 (consider DST; refer to shared DOC for each country’s time zone)

SRN2021 MEMO AND STATUS UPDATE 

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FAO of the SRN Executive Council 

CURRENT SITUATION (up to date as of 19 April 2021) 

At the moment, in the UK we are riding out of the third wave of pandemic, which seems to be  subsiding quite substantially, with numbers down to 1500-2000/day, although now that some  restrictions have been lifted these are predicted to rise again in the forthcoming weeks. 

Last week saw the enforcement of Step 2 of the so-called Roadmap out of lockdown, which can  be summed up as per below: 

  • Only outdoor activities/hospitality venues/attractions have re-opened 
  • Working from home whenever possible still apply 
  • No accommodation (e.g. hotels) 
  • No catering services indoors 
  • No unnecessary travelling 
  • Universities have re-opened with limited activities (i.e. practice-based) and capacity • Gathering: 

o No indoor gatherings (fines of up to £10,000) 

o Only family/friends up to 6 outdoors 

  • Usual guidelines still apply:  

o 2-metre social distancing 

o Face covering 

o Sanitising hands 

However, the situation worldwide is still quite challenging. 

In countries like Australia, New Zealand, Norway, Finland and Denmark, it seems to be fairly  under control as it’s been for most of the past year. 

There seems to be much improvement in other countries such as, for instance, Spain and Portugal. But it remains tough in the US and in most other European countries; and it is still dire in South America and quite a few other countries such as India (not all countries in the map supply up-to date data). 

As known, the rollout of vaccination programmes has been seriously delayed in many countries and even implemented in different ways: for example, in the UK about 50% of the population has  now received their first dose of the vaccine, but only about 15% have received the second dose as  well. Comparing current data from the WHO, Johns Hopkins University, and BBC, very few of  our delegates’ countries – e.g. the U.S., Chile, and the UAE – are doing fairly well with 23-29% of  the population now fully vaccinated; most others (especially in Europe and South America, where  80% of our delegates come from) are lagging much behind (2-9% on average). The most optimistic  predictions seem to converge towards the late Autumn/early Winter for vaccination programmes  to reach significant results both on a local and global scale. 

Travelling to England from outside the UK 

While several countries are beginning the rush to open their doors to tourists, at the moment the  “real” situation is as follows: 

  • Travel ban/no entry to the UK from countries on “red list” (i.e. the whole of South  America, all countries in the Southern half of Africa, a few Asian countries, with India likely  to be added soon as well) 

o At the moment, this involves at least 13-15 delegates 

  • Passengers from ALL other countries are subject to mandatory test-and-quarantine rules (i.e. applies to ALL other non-UK resident delegates): 

o Before you leave for the UK: 

Take a Covid-19 test and get a negative result during the 3 days before you  travel 

Book a test-and-quarantine package (£1750 per person), which includes: • Accommodation in a managed quarantine hotel (if you do not have  private accommodation)

o Throughout the whole duration of your quarantine, you  

CANNOT leave your hotel room 

  • Two Covid-19 tests to be taken during quarantine 

o If you test positive, you will have to stay longer 

Complete the online passenger locator form (within 48 hours of departure) o On arrival in the UK: 

Provide proof of a negative coronavirus test (only accepted in either English,  French or Spanish) taken in your country 

Quarantine/self-isolate for 10 days, either:  

  • In private accommodation (if you have one), or 
  • In a managed quarantine hotel 

Take TWO Covid-19 tests on days 2 and 8 of quarantine (as per your booking) 

  • You can book and take an “early” test (called Test and release) to  

end quarantining on Day 5, at extra cost (£220; rumoured to be reduced to £55 in the near future) via private providers 

  • Infringement of any of the above is considered a serious criminal offense and carries fines  of up to £10,000 and imprisonment for up to 10 years  
  • Upon returning to your country: 

o Most countries have enforced their own test-and-quarantine rules, which might  apply when returning home in some cases 

EXPECTED CHANGES IN MAY/JUNE 

Step 3 of Roadmap out of lockdown (not before 17 May) 

  • Outdoor gathering and events of up to 30 people 
  • Events with up to 30 (does not specify whether indoor events are allowed; and if  conferences are included in this category that so far includes weddings, funerals and  similar) 
  • Indoor hospitality re-opens (e.g. hotels) 

Travelling to England from outside the UK 

  • Rules will most likely switch to a “traffic light system”: 

o Green: free entry/no restrictions subject to negative pre-departure test and  subsequent negative PCR test (i.e. a swab of your mouth and nose) on Day 2 of  your stay in the UK 

At the moment, only a handful of countries are predicted to be given green  status – as concerns our delegates, these will include only USA and Portugal o Amber: equivalent to current test-and-quarantine system 

Most of our delegates’ other countries will be “amber”  

o Red: equivalent to current “red list”, i.e. total ban/no entry 

  • In short, not much will actually change compared to the current situation Step 4 of Roadmap out of lockdown (not before 21 June)
  • Plans to reopen all activities and events (including indoors) 
  • Travel traffic light system to be reviewed on 28 June and 31 July; while many hope this will  mean even fewer restrictions, in fact predictions are for numbers to get worse in the weeks/months following re-opening of international travel and therefore said periodic  reviews could end up tightening restrictions instead
  • Full review of restrictions/guidance (including how long social distancing and face masks will  remain in place) 

BUT 

  • No specific dates are mentioned regarding the latter 
  • All the above depends on the outcome of “a scientific Events Research Programme to test  the outcome of certain pilot events through the spring and summer, where we will trial the  use of testing and other techniques to cut the risk of infection” (source: UK.gov, no further  details available so far) 
  • All the above applies to the UK population, on the assumption that most will be vaccinated  by the Summer 

o Visitors from abroad attending events will still be subject to the traffic light system,  and therefore test-and-quarantine where applicable unless restrictions are changed/lifted in June-July 

CONCLUSIONS 

To sum up, in the most optimistic scenario: 

  • If all the above goes according to plan, and 
  • If no new waves occur and/or no new variants emerge 

It might be possible for IRL events such as SRN2021 to be “legally” allowed from July onwards. 

A meeting with the Events Team at the conference venue (i.e. the Mathematical Institute) was held  to assess all the above and viability of the conference based on available information and on the  participation of many delegates from outside the UK. 

In practical terms the most likely scenario in case we ran SRN2021 as normal, is as follows: 

  • Social distancing and face covering rules will still apply indoors at the venue and during the  conference, regardless of whether new regulations will allow for some more flexibility • Social distancing rules will mean severely reduced maximum room capacity. More  specifically: 

o Main Lecture Theatre (used for plenaries and panels): from 250 to 55 

o Other seminar rooms (used for panels): from 40 to 12-15 

  • In turn, this means having to reduce the maximum number of delegates to 55 • However, the cost of hiring the venue will remain the same and therefore registration fees  are bound to be substantially higher than expected 
  • Only formal sessions possible: no additional social/networking activities can be planned • Catering: 

o At the moment the venue’s supplier cannot guarantee service for large numbers o Assuming catering can be supplied, it will likely be in the form of individual pre packed parcels to be consumed and cost more 

o Regardless of the above, at the moment the caterer is unable to provide a quote

  • A hybrid solution is not financially viable: the venue does not have in-house capability for  that and will have to hire an external company to handle the setup and live streaming – daily costs are from £1200+VAT and would add to existing running costs 

The above considers the situation in situ in Oxford. Unfortunately, we still need to factor in a few  more issues for delegates, especially those coming from abroad. 

  • While this might change in the forthcoming months, as things stand now most international  delegates will very likely have to follow test-and-quarantine rules, with all the extra time  and cost that this entail. Luckier delegates coming from “green-listed” countries will still  have to take tests and if positive will have to quarantine as well. 
  • Virtually all universities in all countries currently enforce a ban on international travel that  is likely to last till the end of the academic year – i.e. until August-October in the Northern Hemisphere, but until the end of 2021 in the Southern Hemisphere. 
  • Linked to the above is the freeze on funding for international travel. Budgets for this work  according to deadlines of the academic year and therefore for most delegates this means  funding won’t be available before September/Autumn in the most optimistic scenario. 
  • Also linked to the above ban, is travel and health insurance. Most delegates work for  academic institutions and when they travel to attend conferences overseas they are  covered by their work insurance. Until universities’ travel bans last, this means insurance  cover is void if delegates decide to travel and attend the conference anyway and therefore  they will have to purchase cover out of their pocket. 

In light of the above, I conclude that, unfortunately, the conditions to run/host SRN2021 in Oxford  safely as per plan are not met and, therefore, for the 2021 Annual Conference to be cancelled and  be replaced by an “alternative online event” TBD ASAP as per discussions so far. To this purpose,  pending the SRN Executive Council’s approval in today’s monthly meeting:  

  1. I will announce the decision to the Membership on Tuesday 20 April;  
  2. I will outline an “alternative online event” format to be presented to the Membership,  possibly by the end of April – this will include alternative format(s) for paper panels and  Q&As, keynote speakers and guests (where available and confirmed), virtual AGM, EC  Elections and SRN Awards and will take into account time zones and limitations and/or  advantages of available platforms (e.g. Zoom).  

On a final, positive note, I can confirm that the School of Arts at Oxford Brookes University is still  willing to provide minimum financial support (roughly £1300) to cover the cost of keynote  speakers’ fees, SRN Awards and website subscription/hosting. 

19 April 2021 

PAOLO RUSSO 

SRN2021 Conference Director

SRN Executive Minutes – March 2021

by

Minutes of SRN EC Meeting

Monday 22.3.2021 at 9 pm BST/GMT/UTC+1 (via Zoom)

Circulation list: Carmen Sofia Brenes (CSB), Rose Ferrell (RF), Ann Igelström (AI), Rafael Leal (RL), Margaret McVeigh (MM), Paolo Russo (PR), Rosanne Welch (RW)

 

Minutes

 

1. Apologies for absence 

RF  

2. Minutes of previous EC Meeting for approval

All pending Action Points have been itemized below in the agenda.

The minutes are approved by the EC as accurate.

3. Update on Newsletter (MM)

MM will post call for April issue after Easter – considering new theme – e.g. sharing online teaching ideas/experiences, having to work around unexpected issues such giving instructions to students online and leaving questions of how to create group identity. Plus updates re: EC activities, conference etc. 

The introduction of non-English languages worked well, was easy to implement and coordinate and therefore should be continued, whereas the theme could change.

The Newsletter can also include an update re: the SRN Awards

ACTION: PR to meet jurors next week for an update.

ACTION: MM to prep call for Easter issue.

4. Social Media 

4.1Update on Facebook posts

AI confirms regular posting and scheduling new posts.

4.2 Launch SRN Conversations

CSB reports back: 4 guests (i.e. the first 4 SRN Conference organizers). Mood was friendly and the level of the conversation was quite high. Each gave thoughts about organizing conferences and the interchange was so lively that the hour went by quickly. The EC will continue to plan more Conversations, and the format may vary (e.g. Q&A, virtual round table), also based on reactions from Members.

RL has already edited and posted the video on the YouTube channel.  

ACTION: PR to email announcement to Membership and AI to follow up with FB post by end of the week.

RL reminds the EC that the guests also sent in photos of the conferences. RL has created a photo album via Google photo, where we can keep collecting more with a view to creating a photo archive in the near future to share with Members. PR observes a photo archive will add to the historiography of the SRN and it’s best to start archiving materials now before they disappear in future years.

PR reminds that we will need to allow Members to take down photos of themselves should they not wish them to be publicly available online.  

5. Update on SRN2021 conference

PR reports back re: Zoom meeting he had recently Events team at the Conference venue to discuss current and future status in terms of feasibility. Some good news/some bad.  The spaces remain available and there is no need to put down a deposit until we can confirm an IRL conference will take place, which buys time and reduces risk of losing funding. 

The Venue has hosted no events since the pandemic broke out and all other events that were scheduled in 2021 have cancelled and moved online. 

In terms of Covid restrictions, in UK these are expected to be lifted by the end of June but there is talks that face coverings and social distancing could be enforced for up to 2 years and this needs to be accounted for: it means the main lecture theatres’ capacity will be reduced to 35-55 each (instead of 250). At present, we have no guarantee that catering can be supplied. The hospitality industry was hit the worst and contractors’ staff have been furloughed: they don’t know if and when they will be back in business. If catering is supplied, the most likely option will be pre-packaged lunches consumed with social distance in place, and it will cost more. 

As concerns delegates who must travel from outside the UK one needs to consider possible rules re: enforcing vaccine passports, the fact that in many countries the roll-out of vaccines is still very slow, and that in many countries universities are not awarding any travel funds to attend conference – which also implies possible insurance issues.

PR has discussed the option of running a hybrid conference with the Events Team: unfortunately, the venue does not have in-house capacity for that and therefore this would mean having hire an outside company: quotes for this begin at around £1300/day +VAT. These costs would add to the registration fees. 

If, eventually, we will have to switch to a fully online event, the sheer number of delegates from as many as 19 different time zones means that, very likely, sessions will have to be organized by geographic regions. One solution to this is to use an online format featuring regular weekly events rather than concentrate all in a few days which would imply several logistical problems. 

Some Members/delegates have come forward to offer to help arrange from around the world. 

CSB observes that Covid has forced us to be creative and therefore running SRN2021 as series of seminars (or study days) could be a useful experiment for any future situations that would allow SRN Members to keep gathering at least online. I’ve been in a few such seminars over the last year and it worked. Both CSB and RW note that their experience of attending similar online events in the past year has been generally positive.

PR points out that if we decide to proceed with the switchover to the different type of event – regular seminar series instead of one-off conference – the format will need some thinking too as some sessions could go live but many will need pre-recording with live discussion.

ACTION – PR to draft memo of potential new format for discussion at April’s EC meeting.

Should SRN2021 become an online event, the EC will have to discuss a viable way of holding this year’s AGM and Elections and whether this require any change the SRN Constitution and, if so, how these can be executed. RL suggests proposing the AGM online option to the Membership and an online vote for any changes to the Constitution which would allow us to run this year’s activities; all changes would then have to be confirmed for good by the in-person AGM at the 2022 conference in Vienna. Likewise, the EC elections could be hold as a combination of postal voting (via email) and in-person voting during the online AGM: also, voting by proxy could be considered.

PR adds that the online AGM could be split into two sessions based on time zones so it could be run live for all Members: the later session would repeat the main reporting in the exact same way. The EC will also have to figure out the appropriate protocol and an impartial Election officer to run these.

ACTION – EC to discuss alternative AGM, EC Elections and changes to Constitution by May, once SRN2021 format is confirmed.

RW notes that, should SRN2021 be turned into an online event, this would still require a lot of effort in terms of organization and running, but it would not be fair to consider SRN2021 as based in Oxford anymore. As a result of this, RW suggests that Oxford as a conference location be rescued and pushed to the end of the current queue (i.e. Vienna, Missouri, Brazil) in 2025. PR appreciates the suggestions and replies that it could be decided by the EC (minus PR) but TBC after the Vienna conference, by 2023 based on situation and funding at that later time.

ACTION – EC to discuss and approve Oxford 2025 if/once SRN2021 moved to online event.

6. Website: update on renewal from Leeds

RL reports good news that the School of Communication at the University of Leeds has finally agreed to renew the hosting of the SRN website for 5 more years, starting in August 2021 up and until July 2026. The School will also cover the related cost. 

RL will liaise with Leeds’ IT team to assess feasibility of revamping the website design. 

ACTION – RL and PR to run website audit to identify all needed changes/upgrades.

7. Membership

7.1 New form to collect missing members’ info

Item adjourned to April’s meeting but RL suggests use of Google Form templates to capture all the info instead of current form as it allows quick analysis of data.

8. Any other business

There were no other business.

 

Date of next meeting: Monday 19 April 2021, 10 pm BST/UTC/GMT (consider DST; refer to shared DOC for each country’s time zone)