Soon we will be meeting in for our seventieth convention in the beautiful city of Vancouver. This is the last meeting of the millennium and of the century, our first meeting outside the U.S. and the seventieth time WSCA has met since 1929.

Things have changed a bit since then. There was no television, portable radio, jet aircraft not to mention no faxes, e-mail, or Internet. Of course, newspapers, radio, books, public address, and interpersonal communication were the connections that held our society and our world together. They also formed the basis for what we studied for the next fifty years: rhetoric, writing, speech, public address, interpersonal communication, and mass communication.

It is important that as a community of intellectuals who deeply believe in our pedagogical and scholarly missions that we embrace the current era with the same fervor and fearlessness as did our scholarly forebearers. It is not hyperbolic to view this era of instantaneous global communication as a cultural and political milestone equivalent to the dawn of literacy, the invention of the printing press or the industrial revolution. Nor is it an idle concern that we could fail in our academic mission if we did not adjust to the rapid changes that occurring in our society and in education today.

Unlike some other voices within the academe, I enter this decade with considerable optimism for American higher education and for the field of communication. This is the information age and what I called, in my convention theme last year in Denver, the communication era. The commodities we sell, information, interpretation, communication and meaning are in more demand than ever before. This is an opportunity for all of us, the academic merchants of these commodities, to be in an excellent position to profit from our products, educate our students, guide the debate about the changes in culture and communication and explain what is happening in an era where communication is being dramatically transformed, commodified, deified, and damned.

I am optimistic about the creative opportunities provided by the communication century but concerned too. Too few of our colleagues understand the game is different and we have to play by different rules:

Capitalism won and will be predominant for the foreseeable future. We must partner with the business community in joint ventures, consultancies, internships, establishing endowments and in a hundred other ways, always aware of the pitfalls associated with any such relationship. No longer can we do anything very meaningful by relying purely on state revenue sources.

Retooling will be imperative. If you are doing the same things you did five years ago, be worried! Like the society in which we live we cannot afford to stagnate. Frankly too many of a colleagues are paralyzed by change and very comfortable with the same old..same old. Continuity too is important but it can coexist with change. Meeting the millenium with tired old paradigms, products and pedagogy will not be a functional adaptation to the tidal wave of change that we will experience. The lethargic changes in the curriculum of communication, our slow adoption of technology and our seeking of shelter from change are maladaptive responses.

By Pamela J. Kalbfleisch, WSCA Second Vice President

Do you have a colleague who is new to the West ? A promising student? An acquaintance who seems isolated or a friend who would like to be more involved?

Share the joy of being a member of one of the best professional associations in our discipline. Invite your colleague, student, acquaintance, or friend to join the Western States Communication Association.

WSCA is a great place to meet new people and to make connections. It is the perfect environment for new scholars, educators, and professionals to meet other people who are new to the discipline or simply new to our association. It is also the perfect place to approach leaders in our discipline in a warm and inviting atmosphere.

WSCA people meet at our annual conventions as well as keep touch throughout the year with our WSCA Webpage and Newsletter as well as with informal calls and electronic messages to WSCA friends and colleagues. Our two scholarly journals are first rate as well as the quality of research and teaching innovations presented at our conventions.

What better gift to give someone who needs a helping hand or who would simply benefit from being connected to a warm, caring, and extraordinary professional community, than a WSCA membership? I recently bought student memberships for two of my promising students who put their egos on the line for the first time by submitting papers for competitive review. I have also sent membership forms to new colleagues in our discipline and encouraged them to join our association. Membership is accessible at only $20 for a student membership and $40 for a regular membership, and membership forms are easily available from our WSCA Web Page or from our Executive Director’s office.

WSCA's Executive Council has new members, beginning their terms at the Vancouver Convention.

First Vice President:
Sandra Petronio, Arizona State University

Second Vice President:
Kathy Adams, California State University, Fresno