I. Call to Order & Distribution of Agenda (Lance Holbert, Chair)
The meeting was called to order at 3:30 p.m. and welcomed everyone.  Lance thanked everyone for attending.  He announced a change in the agenda – moving item #7 (Gronbeck Award Presentation) to #3 on the agenda. 
II. Introduction of Political Communication Division (PCD) officers (Lance Holbert, Chair)
Lance introduced the division's officers:

• Vice-Chair:  Terry Robertson
• Vice-Chair Elect:  Mary Stuckey
• Secretary:  Lisa Burns
• Nominating Committee Chair:  Mary Christine Banwart
• Gronbeck Award Chair:  Judith Trent

Lance thanked the officers for their service. He also recognized the immediate past chair (John Tedesco) and the past-past chair (Mitchell McKinney) and thanked them for their help in answering his questions and offering him advice.
III. Gronbeck Award Presentation (Judith Trent, Chair)
Judith explained the history and purpose of the award and thanked the Carl Couch Center for Social and Internet Research for their support of the award. The members of the selection committee were recognized: David Henry, Jim Klumpp, and Bob Denton. There were a total of 15 entries. The winning entry was No Caption Needed: Iconic Photographs, Public Culture, and Liberal Democracy by Robert Hariman and John Lucaites. The authors were not present to accept the award.
IV. Approval of 2006 Minutes (Lance Holbert, Chair, for Julia Spiker, 2006 Secretary)
The minutes were approved.
V. Reports and Announcements from PCD Committee Officers:
A. Nominating Committee and Election of New Officers (Mary Christine Banward, Nominations Committee Chair)
Mary thanked the members of the nominating committee for their efforts: Vanessa Beasley, Jill Edy, Lisa Gring-Pemble, and Kate Kenski. Mary announced the nominees in the "packed field":

• Three candidates were presented for Vice-Chair Elect:  Glenn Hansen (University of Oklahoma), Julia Spiker (University of Akron), and Barbara Walkosz (University of Colorado, Denver)
• Fourteen candidates were presented for the Nominating Committee:  Sumana Chattopadhyay (Marquette University), Jay Childers (University of Kansas), Kevin Coe (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Josh Compton (Southwest Baptist University), Erika Falk (Johns Hopkins University), Lauren Feldman (University of Pennsylvania), Lisa Foster (University of Oklahoma), R. Kelly Garrett (Ohio State University), Dannagal Goldthwaite Young (University of Deleware), Jennifer Lewis (Western Kentucky University), Jennifer Stromer-Galley (University at Albany, SUNY), Natalie (Talia) Jomini Stroud (University of Texas, Austin), Rebecca Verser (New Mexico State University).

Ballots were distributed and collected to be tallied during the meeting.
B. 2007 Convention Program Highlights (Terry Robertson, Vice Chair)
Terry thanked the reviewers, especially those who jumped on board immediately and agreed to read extra papers after the high number of submissions called for additional reviewers. He also thanked those who served as chairs and respondents, noting that many of the responses he heard were very thoughtful and profound. Terry presented the following summary of the 2007 submissions:

• Total of 149 submissions – 17 panels and 132 papers
• 7 of 17 panels accepted (41% acceptance rate)
• 72 of 132 papers accepted (54% acceptance rate)

Terry noted that the PCD is growing, and that this year saw one of the lowest acceptance rates. The PCD was given 27 slots on the program, the same amount as 2006. Terry argued for 3 more, but was denied because of space restrictions in Chicago. The following breakdown was offered:

• 1 business meeting
• 1 social gathering
• 18 competitive paper panels
• 7 participant panels

Lance thanked Terry for his work and the PCD members for the high level of engagement at this year's convention. He also noted that the social gathering would immediately follow the business meeting in the same room.
C. Quick Listing of Awards (Lance Holbert, Chair, and Terry Robertson, Vice Chair)
Lance noted that the awards would be officially presented at the social gathering. Terry announced the winner of the Top Paper Awards:

• “Speaking to the Faithful: The Rise of the God Strategy in American Politics.”  Kevin Coe (University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) and David Domke (University of Washington)
• “The Political Interpersonal Communication Index: Developing a Measure for Understanding Why We Talk Politics.”  Mary C. Banwart (University of Kansas)
• “Representation and the Politics of Play: Stephen Colbert’s ‘Better Know a District.’”  Geoffrey Baym (University of North Carolina, Greensboro)
• “The Influence of Presumed Media Influence on Strategic Voting: Evidence from the Israeli 2003 and 2006 Elections.”  Yariv Tsfati (University of Haifa) and Jonathan Cohen (University of Haifa)

Lance explained that, because this was the first year for the Outstanding Book, Article and Dissertation Awards, he would explain the process so that it would be transparent. A committee was created for each award, and members were selected for those committees. Lance thanked the following committee members for their work:

• Book Award:  Diana Carlin (Chair), Bill Benoit, Danna Young
• Article Award:  Glen Hansen (Chair), Allan Louden, Kathy Kendall
• Dissertation Award:  Trevor Parry-Giles (Chair), Paul DeAngelo, Young Mie Kim

The committee chairs created criteria for each award. As PCD Chair, Lance created a "call for submissions" for each award, which was published on CRTNET, in "Spectra," and e-mailed to members of the PCD. The deadline for submissions was May 15th and winners were announced on August 15th. The competition was highly competitive with nearly a dozen works submitted in each category. The following winners were announced:

• Outstanding Article Award:  Gordon R. Mitchell (University of Pittsburgh), “Team B Intelligence Coups,” Quarterly Journal of Speech, May 2006
• Outstanding Book Award:  Sharon E. Jarvis (University of Texas, Austin), “The Talk of the Party: Political Labels, Symbolic Capital, & American Life,” Rowman & Littlefield
• Outstanding Dissertation Award:  Natalie (Talia) Jomini Stroud (University of Texas, Austin), “Selective Exposure to Partisan Information,” Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania.  Vincent Price, Advisor.

D.Legislative Assembly Highlights (Lance Holbert, Chair)
Lance noted that there were four main issues to report from the Legislative Assembly.

1. Unbundling conference registration and membership fees.  This issue was a holdover from last year, when it was tabled.  The new proposal put forth by the NCA Executive Committee was to unbundle membership and conference fees.  The proposal is aimed at eliminating inequities between conference costs between different membership levels.  The proposal passed by a vote of 76-33.  The following changes are therefore in effect:
• No change in student membership ($60) or conference ($70) rates.
• Regular, Sustaining and Patron members will now pay the same price for membership ($165). Conference fees will also be the same for all members ($130 pre-registration; $195 on-site).

This is the first part of a two-stage process.  The Executive Committee will now decide whether to retain the separate Regular, Sustaining and Patron membership categories or to create just two  categories: one for students and one for everyone else.  They plan to make a decision by next year.  Lance called for comments – there were none. 

2. Conference Pre-registration. NCA executives claim there is a problem with people taking part in the conference without registering. These "free riders" are costing NCA upwards of $60,000. The new policy, going into effect for the 2008 convention, is as follows:
• -All presenters and first authors must pre-register for the conference by August 10th (*Note: There is some confusion regarding whether the date is August 10th or August 6th). Those who fail to pre-register by the August deadline will be REMOVED from the program. All chairs and respondents must also pre-register.

A lively discussion followed. The following issues were raised and responses offered by Lance:

• Why the August 10th/6th deadline? The deadline is related to the time frame needed to publish the convention program. NCA claims that this is the latest date that they can make changes to the program.
• How did NCA determine the cost of "free riders" ($60,000)? By comparing names on the program to actual conference registration in recent years.
• How does this apply to papers with multiple authors? The policy, as currently worded, says that all first authors must pre-register. All presenters must also pre-register. So, if someone other than the first author is presenting, BOTH the first author and the presenter must pre-register.
• Will this hurt our division? Will we lose slots? NCA expects that this new policy will create "equal mayhem" for all divisions. However, NCA executives thought that the loss of money was significant enough that they had to take some sort of action.
• What about travel funding (many people won't know if they have funding by August)? NCA says that, if a person pre-registers but then must cancel because he/she did not get funding, NCA will refund their pre-registration fees.
• Will program planners have time to adjust? Not sure. But if there are large-scale changes, the program planners will have to get involved.
• What if a chair or respondent does not pre-register, is the whole panel dropped? No – that person will be replaced.
• Will everyone know that their papers/panels have been accepted before the deadline? Hopefully.
• How will this impact students? No discussion of this at the Legislative Assembly.
• Did NCA say if members of any specific divisions were guiltier of failing to register? No idea.
• Will pre-registration open earlier to accommodate the August deadline? No discussion – but Lance said he would ask at tomorrow's Legislative Assembly meeting. Will also ask about questions about planners' involvement in the process.
• Will presenters find out sooner whether their papers/panels have been accepted? No change in deadlines, so probably not.
• Why does the planning process take so long? Mary explained that May 7th is the deadline for planners to turn in their completed programs. Also noted that the pre-registration deadline might be August 6th, not August 10th.
• What if there are problems with pre-registering online? No idea.
• What about dues – will they be due at the same time as registration, even though the fees are no longer bundled? Not sure, but you should be able to just pre-register if your membership has not expired.
3. Financial Health of NCA. NCA is doing well financially. There are currently 7,850 members. NCA wants to expand its investments beyond CDs. An Investment Advisory Board has been created. 98% of the discussion, according to Lance, was related to where NCA should put its money. The new board has been asked to come up with recommendations based on the "values" of NCA. Various funds are being examined.
4. NCA's Strategic Plan. NCA is developing its strategic plan for the next 5 years. Division chairs were asked to pose the following question to their members: What are the most important contributions NCA makes to its membership? PCD members offered the following responses:
• Convention provides networking opportunities.
• Opportunities for collaboration and learning
• Promoting communication in society and promoting communication scholarship

* It was noted that this discussion would be more efficient if NCA provided copies of its previous 5-year plan so it can be used as a guideline for discussion.

VI. New Business (Lance Holbert, Chair)
No new business.
VII. Election Results (Mary Christine Banwart, Nominations Committee Chair)
The following officers were elected:

• Vice Chair-Elect:  Glenn Hansen (University of Oklahoma)
• Nominations Committee:  Chair - Kevin Coe (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Sumana Chattopadhyay (Marquette University), Jennifer Lewis (Western Kentucky University), Jennifer Stromer-Galley (University at Albany, SUNY), Natalie (Talia) Jomini Stroud (University of Texas, Austin)

Planning for 2008 Convention Program (Mary Stuckey, Vice Chair-Elect)
Mary passed around the "Call for Papers" and a sign-up sheet looking for volunteers to review, chair and respond. Conference theme: "Un-convention-al." In support of the theme, there are a few "un-convention-al" ideas for next year's conference:

• Top papers will be presented twice – once as a traditional panel and again as a scholar-to-scholar session.  PCD has 27 program slots, 3 are scholar-to-scholar.  The object is to attract more attention to the scholar-to-scholar sessions, which is an “unconventional” way to present research.  Mary asked the members if they support this idea.  It was noted by one member that this could be good for the division’s visibility.  The question was raised regarding whether this would take away from other work being accepted – Mary has a plan to deal with this.  Finally, it was asked if these sessions could be scheduled on the same day – Mary said that might be possible. 
• Bringing in scholars from allied disciplines.  The goal is to show how communication research intersects with other disciplines.  There is the chance that PCD could get additional program slots for such panels.  Also, NCA might have funding available (pool of $5000) to help defray costs for invited guests.  However, the funding probably won’t be available until after acceptance.  Guests will not have to join NCA or pre-register.  They will be covered by NCA’s guest policy, so they will attend the conference free of charge.  Send these program ideas directly to Mary.
• Wandering scholars.  These senior PCD members will attend the scholar-to-scholar sessions.  The goal is to get a mix of junior and senior scholars involved in the scholar-to-scholar sessions.  So far, Lynda Lee Kaid and Judith Trent have agreed to serve as “wandering scholars.”  Others can expect e-mails from Mary requesting their participation in this program.

IX. Installation of New Officers (Lance Holbert, Chair)
Lance passed the pink highlighter to Terry. Terry thanked Lance for establishing the three new awards. Noted that the social would immediately follow the meeting in the same room.
X. Meeting Adjourned
Meeting adjourned at 4:45 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Lisa M. Burns
Political Communication Division Secretary