Minutes

Midwest Archaeological Conference
October 21, 2005
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Glenn Room
Dayton, Ohio
Minutes
Submitted by Bonnie Styles, President-Elect for Susan Martin, Secretary

Attendance:
Lynne Goldstein, President; Bonnie Styles, President-elect; William Lovis, Editor; Jan Brashler, Editor-Elect; George Milner, Executive Officer; Mark Seeman, Executive Officer; Tim Baumann, Treasurer-Elect; Robert Jeske, Treasurer; Robert Riordan, Conference Organizer

1. Call to Order and President's Report
   President Goldstein called the meeting to order at 12:10 p.m. Goldstein noted that as president, she should have created a nominating committee by March 1 to put together a slate of candidates for open positions. Because according to the bylaws, Bill Lovis, Editor, needed to publish the names of the nominating committee members and a call for nominations in the Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, he E-mailed Goldstein and Sue Martin, Secretary. Martin determined which seats would be open and require nominations, and nominations were to be submitted to her by July 1. The call for nominations was printed in the journal as required by the bylaws. Apparently no one noticed the call for nominations, and no nominations were submitted to Martin. The list of open positions printed in the journal was incorrect. According to the bylaws the election must occur by a written ballot sent to members at least 30 days prior to the annual business meeting, which in this case is scheduled for the next day (October 22 at 4:45 p.m.).
   
   
2. Nominating Committee
   Goldstein indicated that she had established a nominating committee including John Kelly (Chair), Cheryl Munson, and Bill Green. Goldstein will ask the members at the business meeting to suspend the section of the bylaws requiring that the election occur prior to the annual business meeting so the elections can be held later. The bylaws also require that the election be conducted by mail ballot. Goldstein will also ask for nominations to be sent to the nominating committee for inclusion on the mail ballot. Only one Executive Committee position is open. She noted that the call for nominations should have been circulated by mail, not just printed in the journal. The Executive Committee agreed that the approach suggested by Goldstein would suffice.
   
   Goldstein noted that the 2006 Annual meeting will be at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and will be organized by Tom Emerson and Tim Pauketat.
   
   
3. Secretary's Report
   Bonnie Styles distributed a written report provided by Sue Martin who was not present at the conference. The report noted that there had been little formal correspondence. Martin requested that Executive Committee members send copies of official correspondence to the Secretary. The report also noted that the Web site is being handled by the MAC Webmaster, that there is one seat open on the Executive Committee, and that there have been no correspondence costs this year.
   
   
4. Treasurer's Report
   The report was delayed until later in the meeting because Jeske had not yet arrived.
   
   
5. Editor's Report
   William Lovis provided a written report. He noted that the journal was in good shape and that he was handing off the page proofs for the next issue to Jan Brashler, incoming editor. He noted that there were sufficient manuscripts in hand to fill both 2006 issues. He also noted that submissions are up, but are insufficient to entertain thoughts of moving to a quarterly submission. He noted that the goal is to have issues of about 140 pages in length. In most cases papers come out about one year after submission. George Milner questioned the one-year lag especially in pre-tenure situations. Lovis countered that a one-year turn-around is very good. Lovis reported that about 7-15% of the papers are rejected. He noted that more articles should have been rejected, but he worked intensively with authors to improve them. Mark Seeman noted the importance of keeping manuscripts flowing to the editor. Goldstein indicated that manuscripts are coming in now. Executive Committee members were asked to encourage meeting presenters to submit their manuscripts for publication in the journal.
   
   
6. 2005 Annual Meeting Report
   Robert Riordan indicated that the meeting underway was successful. There were 225 pre-registered and approximately 40 walk-ins. He estimated that attendance might reach 300. He had guaranteed 110 for the banquet and 108 had signed up. Meeting income was about $15,019 including the bus trip, and they will probably take in an additional $2000. There should be a healthy profit. He noted that the keynote speaker, Larry Keeley would arrive tonight and would be introduced by Robert Jeske. The bus trip targeted 26, but only 12-14 individuals signed up. About 170 individuals signed up to go to Sun Watch. He also noted that Sun Watch is contributing the liquor for the dinner at the site.
   
   Executive Committee members commented on the success of the meeting and the quality of the facilities in the hotel.
   
   
7. 2006 Annual Meeting
   Goldstein reiterated that the 2006 Annual Meeting will be held at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign (October 12-15, 2006). A contract had been signed with a hotel, but that hotel went bankrupt. A new contract has been signed with a Holiday Inn.
   
   
8. 2007 Annual Meeting
   Goldstein noted that the 2007 Annual Meeting will be held at Notre Dame (October 4-7, 2007), with Mark Schurr as organizer.
   
   
9. Correction to 2004 Annual Business Meeting Minutes
   Lovis note that the spelling of Mark Schurr's name needed to be corrected in the minutes for 2004 Annual Business meeting. Styles questioned how meeting dates were selected. Goldstein noted that the meeting is normally scheduled in October, with an attempt to avoid conflicts with the Plains Conference, the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, and football games.
   
   
10. 2005 Conference Support
    Goldstein noted that Larry Conrad and Gray and Pape, Inc. had made donations to support the 2005 conference and that Gray and Pape, Inc. sponsored the banquet. Goldstein noted that she would write letter of thanks to the donors and sponsors. She suggested that Sue Martin would draft letters for her to sign. Goldstein also thanked the organizers for the conference.
    
    
11. Problems with AltaMira Press
    Lovis noted that AtlaMira Press still owes MAC $4000. AltaMira took over publication of the journal in 2004. Goldstein noted that we now have the names and contact information for the press.
    
    
12. Treasurer's Report
    Robert Jeske arrived at 12:55 p.m. and distributed a written report. He reiterated that AltaMira Press owes MAC $4000 for payment of royalties. John Kelly is attempting to get $1000 from SEAC for last year's annual meeting. The bank statement indicated that the organization has $800 more than Jeske thought. The difference may be because he missed dues payments submitted through PayPal. He noted that MAC had about $12,000 in the bank, and the 2005 meeting would yield several thousand dollars in profit. MAC will be able to split profit with Wright State University and the Dayton Society of Natural History. The only problem is with AltaMira Press. However MAC will not pay the $4200 bill for the printing of the last journal issue, until the problem with AltaMira is resolved. MAC pays AltaMira about $9,000 to $10,000 per year and then gets back ca. $4000 in royalties. Lovis suggested that MAC should check to see if AltaMira will continue to maintain the Web page on the journal.
    
    Jeske reported that there are 416 MAC members as of last week, and some new members have joined at the conference.
    
    Jeske noted that a contract had been signed for the hotel for the 2006 annual meeting in Urbana-Champaign, but a contract has not yet been signed for Notre Dame.
    
    Baumann recommended that MAC establish a contract with SPORG for one year to handle registration for 2006 annual meeting. The Executive Committee agreed.
    
    
13. Thanks to Meeting Organizers
    Styles extended thanks to the organizers for the 2005 conference—Robert Riordan, Lynn Simonelli, and William Kennedy.
    
    
14. Adjournment
    Goldstein adjourned the Executive Committee Meeting at 1:16 p.m.

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