Date:  Tue, 3 Jan 1995 22:08:10 -0500

From:  AAllan[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]AOL.COM

Subject: Les Nouvelles from Le Meridien



Thanks to all who participated in our first e-xperiment with e-ncompassing

ADS-L in choosing Words of the Year. And to Natalie Maynor and Mike Agnes for

the technical arrangements. Now, for the other business news from the

American Dialect Society Annual Meeting 1994 at Le Meridien in floreal

Coronado CA:



1. After a final hour concluding the conversation that began in the September

NADS and continued on this list last month, the ADS Executive Council

unanimously agreed to President John Baugh's proposal that ADS hold its

annual meeting in association with the Linguistic Society of America for 3

years starting January 1997 - but having most of our sessions the day before

(or possibly after) the LSA meeting, so that those who want to participate in

LSA (which is the reason for this change) will not have to choose between LSA

sessions and ADS. There was also considerable sentiment in favor of

continuing our custom of having our own hotel and arrangements, though LSA is

so welcoming that that may be more difficult.



This was a rejection of the committee proposal for an independent April

meeting. Of about two dozen in attendance at the Executive Council, most

expressed opposition to adding a separate meeting to the year's busy calendar

and expressed doubt that anyone but they would attend. There were also few

kind words for MLA and passionate affirmation of LSA as the true home of our

society. Well, maybe NWAV as the truer home, but not stable enough.



Those who favor LSA will now have the opportunity to demonstrate through

strong programs, good attendance, and new recruits that their choice is the

natural one. Those who will miss MLA have the opportunity of next year in

Chicago to demonstrate what we will be missing.



And if after Chicago-MLA and then three years of LSA the results in terms of

attendance and membership still aren't impressive, you may well see some

committee return with a proposal to meet entirely on our own at some other

time of the year. So if you don't like that, get busy!



(We have, I think, programs of generally high quality at our annual meeting,

and very congenial settings for collegiality. The problem is that year after

year, such a small portion of our membership attends. At the program sessions

this year, attendance was mostly between 20 and 30, rising to a maximum of 45

for the luncheon and about 55 for Word of the Year. That's out of a

membership of 550.)



2. For the first time ever, starting in Chicago next year, ADS will have

registration for the Annual Meeting, at a fee of $20, or $10 for students.

This is to cover the expense of refreshments, and give exact information on

who attends.



3. Beth Lee Simon was appointed Midwest Regional Secretary, succeeding the

late Michael Miller.



4. Alan Manning was appointed chair of the Teaching Committee, succeeding

Kathy Riley.



5. Dennis Baron and Allan Metcalf were approved to organize an ADS session at

the NCTE convention in San Diego Nov. 17-19.



For more details, see the next NADS, which should be out to you at the end of

the month.



See you at the Barclay in Chicago this coming December! Watch this ether for

further details on how you can participate! In particular, incoming VP and

program chair Walt Wolfram has certain ideas. . . .



- Allan Metcalf, ADS executive secretary  <AAllan[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]aol.com>