Elections for ICA officers and for CHIG vice-chair are now underway. Voting is online, at
[http://www.icahdq.org/elections/Annual2011/](http://www.icahdq.org/elections/Annual2011/)
Be sure to vote soon, since polls close on Friday, October 14 at 12:00 noon, EST.
The statements of the CHIG vice-chair candidates are on the election website, and are copied below:
### John Laprise (Northwestern U, USA)
I’m John Laprise and I would like to be vice chair of the Communication History Interest Group. I strongly believe in the importance of our group in the broader scheme of the ICA and look forward to becoming a full-fledged Division. I view myself as a historian of technology focusing on the interrelationship between government, ICT, and national security. And while the national security component is not a factor here, I am all too keenly aware of bureaucratic function and dysfunction. Going forward, our Interest Group will be likely taking on a more prominent role within the ICA and it will be increasingly important to effectively manage and coordinate efforts within our Group and with other Divisions. My academic work will usefully inform my administrative work. Expansion of the group is also important. As historians, I believe that we have a built-in advantage in that we are, on one level, storytellers. If we tell an interesting story our audience will be captivated, no matter their discipline. We have a great opportunity to expand our ranks within ICA by generating interest in history and telling stories that inform. Externally, we also can bring communications historians to our ranks from other organizations such as SHOT and ICOHTEC, where they practice unaware of our existence. Finally as an international faculty member working, I am well-positioned to invite communication historians globally to join us and share their work.
### Rick Popp (U of Wisconsin – Milwaukee, USA)
I’m assistant professor of media studies at the U of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. My research focuses on the history of consumer culture. Recently, I’ve had articles appear in Technology & Culture, Book History, CSMC, and Journalism History. Next year, LSU Press will publish my study of postwar tourism marketing, *The Holiday Makers*. Along with ICA, I’ve been involved with ASA, SHARP, AEJMC, AJHA, and NCA.
My enthusiasm for CHIG dates to its founding and I’m excited about serving the group in a more formal capacity. CHIG has emerged as a dynamic research forum for media scholarship steeped in innovative historiography. At the core of CHIG’s dynamism are its cross-disciplinary character and international makeup, which together infuse it with fresh thinking from across academia and around the world.
Because CHIG has thrived so early, Interest Group status will likely yield to full divisional standing before long. When that happens, it will be important for CHIG to remain intellectually nimble while also capitalizing on its new institutional clout. Embracing the group’s core characteristics will allow us to do so. We should continue to actively build ties beyond the traditional bounds of North American communication scholarship. Preconferences provide a great opportunity to invite noted scholars from other disciplines (history, anthropology, sociology) into the fold. Giving priority to preconference and panel themes that find creative ways to make CHIG’s internationalism a starting point can also keep our programming lively. Such approaches could include, but certainly aren’t limited to, defining connections via transportation networks, in the manner of a field like Pacific Studies; or, taking an inquiry like Sidney Mintz’s *Sweetness and Power* as a model, tracing global flows of capital and culture.
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