Hi folks!

I hope that your summers are off to a good start, and that we can all catch our collective breath a bit.

It almost goes without saying that summers still mean work for scholars, and even in a pandemic-recovery season, that includes catching up on much-needed research, service, reading, writing and even getting in some extra teaching. Our community continues to impress me in its resilience, resolve and grace with all these endeavors. Recently, I was on a road trip to see my mom in Seattle and got a chance to meet (safely!) with a few of our members. I’ll just say this: you rock.

A couple of quick reminders before I proceed: I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you to please renew your membership if you haven’t done so yet, and to please register for the conference. It is online, Aug. 4-7, with our awards gala the night of Aug 3, at 7 p.m.; our general membership meeting is at 8:45 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 5. Registration remains just $69 for regular members and $39 for student members, before July 23.

Cayce, Maddie, myself and the rest of the leadership team are excited for what we have in store, but we are also aware that we’re all more than a little Zoomed out, and so I can promise a straightforward experience, with an emphasis on breaks and starting/stopping at reasonable hours, as far as possible.

As this is my penultimate column—past chair Erika Pribanic-Smith will have a *final* word from me in our wonderful conference guide, which she is again graciously producing for us and which will be available in July, ahead of the conference—I just wanted to say a brief word of thanks for all the hardworking volunteers who have reviewed, signed on as moderators and discussants, served on committees, helped with initiatives, wrote emails, posted to our social-media channels, answered my often-tiresome queries and generally selflessly gave of themselves. Thank you!

We have continued a number of important efforts from last year, despite the pandemic, including our mentorship program, our teaching competition, our inclusion of grad students, our web site’s revamp, our various new awards, our journal’s healthy relationship with Taylor & Francis, and, of course, our awesome podcast, among other projects and programs. My time as chair has focused on supporting you during the pandemic in as many concrete ways as possible, and I hope I have succeeded in that. I have again realized my (many!) limitations, but you continue to inspire me.

We’ll be honoring a number of you at the conference with specific shoutouts, but I wanted to specifically recognize both Maddie and Cayce, for all their help, in matters large and small, throughout the year. They’ll do wonderful work as your new vice chair and chair, respectively.

I am filled with optimism and gratitude that the division will be in truly capable hands next year and beyond, and I am increasingly confident that we will be able to return in person, as well, to Detroit.

Finally, I’m grateful for our immediate past chair Teri Finneman’s encouragement and advice—she has acted as liaison for our journal, but has also been a critical sounding board for me and your other division leaders—thank you!

Look for more conference-specific highlights from me in my final column in the conference guide, which we’ll post to social media and to our listserv, but see other updates on our site, https://mediahistorydivision.com/, and again on @AEJHistory Twitter and our Facebook page.

Please reach out to me at wmari1@lsu.edu, wtmari@gmail.com, or @willthewordguy, if you need anything, or just want to say “hi” as I wrap up my time as your division head.

It has been my great honor to have been your chair. Keep up the great work—#mediahistorymatters.