The AEJMC conference countdown is on! We’re only a couple of weeks away from meeting in Washington, D.C. For me, I always get a personal and professional energy kick from attending the annual conference. I love listening to quality research and learning new approaches to things, but most of all, I love meeting and catching up with people. 

We have a great History Division conference program. Vice Chair Rachel Grant (Florida) and Research Chair Brian Creech (Lehigh) have worked hard on organizing our schedule of panels and research presentations. We start the conference with our annual Awards Gala on Sunday, Aug. 6 at 7:30 p.m. EST. The gala is a terrific opportunity to celebrate our award winners. You must pre-register for the event, but it only costs $5 to attend. There will be food, desserts, and drinks. 

While we have something going on every day of the conference, I do want to point out two Wednesday (Aug. 9) events. We have the Jinx C. Broussard Award for Excellence in Teaching of Media History panel at 4 p.m. and our top papers presentation at 6 p.m.

Before we meet up in Washington, D.C., we will have our annual business meeting via Zoom on Thursday, July 27 at 1 p.m. EST. Please note that there is not a separate business meeting in Washington, D.C. Instead, the virtual meeting fulfills that function. The virtual business meeting will be facilitated by AEJMC and they have emailed information regarding how to register to all members. Basically, you follow the link they provided to register for the History Division’s business meeting, fill out your details, and you will be sent a Zoom link for our meeting.

I do hope you will attend our virtual business meeting. We will cover our regular business meeting items, including electing the new Second Vice Chair/Research Chair. The meeting agenda and our annual report was sent out to the History Division listserv on June 25. If you have questions about the business meeting, please feel free to reach out to me directly at madeleine.liseblad@csulb.edu. 

In this, my last Chair column, I want to take some time to thank the amazing leadership of the History Division. There is a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes on, and a lot of it is extremely time consuming. I also want to thank all our volunteers, whether you served on a committee or reviewed papers. We could not do what we do without your help. Finally, a big thank you to all our History Division members. To me, this division represents people and friendships, all connected via our mutual love for media history. Thank you for your support of this division’s work. 

Finally, it has been truly a great honor to lead this division and I have appreciated everyone’s support. I know that when I officially step aside on Oct. 1, the History Division will be in great hands with Rachel Grant, Brian Creech, and the rest of the 2023-24 team. 

— Maddie Liseblad