RHN 61/2013 | Call/EURHO
EURHO invites expressions of interest from academic societies, university departments or research institutes who would be interested in hosting the conference Rural History 2015.
The 2010 conference in Brighton and the forthcoming 2013 conference in Bern have demonstrated that there is considerable interest in rural history and an appetite for a conference in which rural historians can showcase their work in front of their peers. The Society is now looking for a host for the third rural history conference.
On the basis of the last two conferences, we would envisage a conference attracting over 300 delegates and having four or five parallel sessions spread over 3½ or four days. Ideally, the venue will have at least five conference rooms each able to seat about 30-40 placed close together, a large room suitable for publishers’ displays and a room suitable for lunches, coffee etc. Powerpoint etc is a sine qua non. Space will also be needed for conference registration etc. Easy access to a sizeable lecture theatre for any plenary sessions and the conference meeting would be a major advantage. The venue should also be able to provide catering, including lunches and possibly a conference dinner.
The conference might be held in a campus setting (as at the University of Sussex in 2010) or expect some or all of its delegates to stay in hotels, in which case access to cut price rooms would be advantageous. Access to a supply of budget rooms in university residences would be a considerable asset.
The conference host would need to appoint a conference director and a conference administrator. Allowance should also be made for a website manager. Bookings for the past and current conference have been handled through a third party supplier, Regonline. The final selection of papers rests with a panel appointed by EURHO in conjunction with the host society.
Under present arrangements EURHO does not directly finance or manage the conference. Previous conferences have been managed by a host society which has accepted the financial risk of the conference. EURHO needs to receive a share of the conference surplus to allow its work in developing the study of rural history to continue. A financial target will be set in conjunction with the Society’s Treasurer. EURHO is aware of the constraints under which university departments and research institutes operate, and it is possible that the Society could access some money for deposits and early expenses (such as advertising) from the national societies which support it. Essentially though the conference is expected to be self-financing and to return a surplus to the host and EURHO.
Expressions of interest should
- identify the venue proposed, its size and the availability of suitable conference rooms
- the dates at which the venue could be available in late August early September 2015 (talking care to avoid other conferences in cognate disciplines)
- the availability of residential accommodation
- the financial arrangements envisaged.
Expressions of interest should be sent to the Secretary of EURHO, Ernst Langthaler (ernst.langthaler@ruralhistory.at), before 30 June 2013. They should fill no more than 2 pages of A4. Location maps, prospectuses for hotels or university accommodation should ideally be given in the form of links rather than additional attachments. Rough costings should be provided (although it is accepted that they will be in 2013 prices).
Further advice on what is entailed can be supplied by either the Director of the 2010 conference (r.w.hoyle@reading.ac.uk) or the 2013 conference (peter.moser@agrararchiv.ch).
The Society will announce the location and date of the 2015 conference at the Bern Conference.
Richard Hoyle, President