Annual Report 2006, Geneva

The network was initiated and approved by the EERA Council in the beginning of 2004, so this ECER was the third conference for us as a network.
 
The network received 26 paper proposals, 1 roundtable, 1 workshop, 3 symposia. 7 were returned to sender for amendments and after these were done all were accepted.
The criteria on which the proposals were assessed were:
Relevance to this network, clear research questions, theoretical and methodological considerations, indications of findings of the research project and relevance for the European discussion. There were 3-5 cancellations.
 
At ECER we had 11 papers, workshop and roundtable sessions, 3 symposia and a network meeting. This is a small increase compared to the previous year. There had been a number of alterations/cancellations because some that had registered for paper sessions withdrew.
It is considered a (minor) problem when people do not appear to the sessions that they have registered for.
 
All of the sessions were chaired. There was varied attendance; from 1-10 delegates up to 31- 40 with an average of 16.
The overall impression is that the presentations were of good and increasing quality compared to the previous years, but not all paper presenters presented papers.
 
There were no language problems at the presentations. In some of the sessions the presenters and the chair did not give enough time for discussions.
The overall impression is that the sessions were well timed, that the equipment worked well, that the communication functioned well, but that there were some of the sessions that were poor visited.

The meeting was scheduled for 12.00-1.00 p.m. and some 20 members turned up. A short report on the reviewing procedure was given.
 
There was a discussion about paper sessions vs. workshops. There was a wish for more workshops because of their more interactive form. It was discussed how we could introduce alternative forms of sessions - besides the paper presentations and symposia. It could be invited presentations with comments and discussions and it could be workshops that would involve delegates more actively. There was a proposition for a combination of workshops and paper sessions i.e. workshops with papers. Therefore this report shall be an invitation that members of the network take initiatives for workshops at the next conference in 2007.
 
It was mentioned that some paper presenters did not bring a paper, nor did they indicate that we could get it via email, when it is finished. This problem was discussed with the other network convenors and it seems that the problem is even bigger in other networks.
 
At the 2005 conference it was decided to elect one link-convenor plus 4 convenors and name the rest of the network members co-convener. In practice the conveners have not been very supportive the link convener remarked in his report to the network meeting.
 
The main conference ended on Friday but the university was open for members of the conference on Saturday so that it should be possible to hold meetings on Saturday. There was therefore a proposal that the network meeting should be held on that day where there are no other conference activities.
 
Some networks take it as a criterion of success that the papers from the sessions are publicized in journals. Therefore there was a proposal that the members of the network publicize their papers. There was another proposal   that presenters put their papers on the ECER’s website. This could pose problems if the paper later is going to be published in a journal. The board will investigate the problems concerning this issue, Lejf promised.
 
It was discussed if the chair function should be replaced by a discussant function to make the sessions more focused. There were arguments both in favour and against this proposal. The main sentiment was to stick to the traditional chair function, because it is important that there is a person that can concentrate on creating an easy frame around the session so that the presenters can feel confident. There was a concern that the discussant role might take up too much room on the expense of the presenters.
 
The last point of discussion was the use of the ECER’s web. The secretariat is working on expanding it so that we members of the networks can use it interactively amongst us.