Notes available from Moderators

1. ASOR Academic and Research Opportunities (Moderator Dave McCreery)
2. ASOR Publications (Moderator Tom Schaub)
3. ASOR Programs (Moderator Eric Cline)
4a. ASOR Operations and 4b. Development (Moderator Holland Hendrix)

Goal: Reestablish ASOR's reputation as a leader in the field of Near Eastern Archaeology.

• A. Develop an academic agenda that is diverse and collaborative, flexible but sharply defined.
• B. Be a better advocate for maintaining and creating new positions in Near Eastern Archaeology/Middle Eastern Studies.

Re: Committee of Archaeological Policy (CAP)

Goal: Demonstrate the utility of CAP or disband/reorganize. CAP is recognized as a committee that effectively executes its mission to uphold standards for field project, publication projects, and encourages/facilitates new projects. The peer review process is viewed as constructive rather than obstructive.

• A. Advocacy of members / affiliated projects.
• B. Mediation role between projects / Depts. of Antiquities / Centers.
• C. Fellowships for excavation, conservation and publication projects.
• D. Importance of peer review process; make more effective.
• E. Subsidize CAP tour to ensure broader participation or devise other mechanisms to facilitate interactions between project directors.

Re: Outreach

Goal: Outreach to institutional members, individual members and the public, resulting in increased visibility, appreciation and respect for ASOR.

• A.  Inform members (institutional and individual) of benefits

• 1. Student fellowships

• 2. National recognition for institutional/corporation members

• 3. Annual meeting participation (benefit to professors and students)

• B. Expand efforts in elementary, secondary and public education / PR
• C. Cultivate our constituency - the next generation.

II. PUBLICATIONS PRIORITIES (Moderator: Tom Schaub)

Re: Publications in General

Goal: Continue the professionalism of ASOR publications by:

• A. Implementing policy manual defining the role of the Director of Publications
• B. Setting high priority to clarify relationships between the Director of Publications and the Executive Director (requires action by the President)
• C. Setting high priority to clarify relationship between the Director of Publications and the Chair of Publications (requires action by the President)
• D. Focusing on NEA:
• 1. Put back on schedule as quickly as possible
• 2. Seek outside sponsors for topical issues
• 3. Expand market share to 10,000 subscribers in the next five years
• 4. Target educators and educated lay people
• 5. Work with dig directors to develop subscriptions among volunteers
• E. Refining text in by-laws concerning the role of Publications and its staff (requires action by the Executive Director and/or President)

Re: Publications Book Program

Goal: Clearly define the priorities of a Book Program by:

• A. Adopting a policy that will attempt to achieve a balance between books that will market well and books that serve the discipline of Near Eastern archaeology more narrowly.
• B. Moving ahead with books that are presently in line to be published by using the current Opportunity Fund as a revolving fund for books. This should be given high priority.

Re: Fund Raising for Publications

Goal: Develop a fund raising program to support the present program and new publication opportunities:

• A. Negotiating with the Development Committee to achieve a higher priority in the pursuit and allocation of funds for the Publications program.
• B. Pursuing donors to fund specific journal issues and books.
• C. Identifying granting agencies for publications and writing grants to support publication programs.
• D. Following through on planned overseas educational travel projects intended to raise funds for publication.
• E. Developing new markets through timely and informative educational projects for classroom use.

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III. PROGRAM PRIORITIES (Moderator: Eric Cline)

Re: Annual Meeting

Goal: Make the Annual Meetings more inclusive and of higher quality:

• A. Provide better vetting of submissions
• B. Conduct annual assessment of programs immediately following meetings.
• C. Make specific invitations to individual scholars, subgroups and "outsiders."
• D. Ask senior scholars to organize specific sessions.

Re: Outreach Education

Goal: Strive to provide for more effective public outreach:

• A. Support the new Lecture Program sub-committee
• B. Provide more advertising and media saturation
• C. Establish kids/family outreach programs at Annual Meeting

Re: Public Awareness

Goal: Make ASOR more visible with the general public:

• A. Establish a new ASOR web feature with scholar's names, contact information, etc. to encourage use by media for topically related interviews.
• B. Do more advertising and publicity of the Annual Meeting and other programs in such vehicles as Archaeology magazine, BAR, and the AIA Newsletter.
• C. Provide pre-meeting releases to the media of upcoming "hot talks" at the Annual Meeting.

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IV. OPERATIONS and DEVELOPMENT PRIORITIES (Moderator: Holland Hendrix)

Re: Operations

Goal: Clearly define duties and responsibilities of all staff members.

Goal: Reevaluate the size of the Board of Trustees [40]. Has it become unwieldily?

Goal: Develop a Procedures manual

Goal: Prepare a publication detailing who we are and where we are!

• A. Describing the range of scholarly endeavors
• B. Utilize the web site more deliberately for providing information to members.
• C. Put minutes of the Board, Executive Committee and Members Meeting on the asor.org web site.

Goal: Use CAP to develop a mechanism for establishing a scholarly agenda.

• A. Make observations on the "meta-issues' which could benefit from discussion.
• B. Make suggestions of areas of possible areas of scholarly investigation.

Re: Development

Goal: Find the means to deal with the realities regarding supports for the organization and put into effect meaningful responses.

Goal: Find a means to resolve tensions with centers with regard to fundraising and overlapping constituencies.

Goal: Find means to reinvigorate the involvement of Member Institutions:

• A. Possibly sending extra copies of publications (NEA, Newsletter) to offices of the Presidents and Academic Deans.
• B. Provide more time at the Annual Meeting for Institutional Representatives to convene and discuss involvement and organizational progress.

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NOTES FROM MODERATORS

Participants' comments on the issues above are included here:
           Publications, Programs, Organization / Development

PUBLICATIONS (Moderator: Tom Schaub)

Strengths:
1. Niche market - ASOR members and widespread interest in archaeology
2. Academic quality of publications:
     long term reputation
     professionalism
     primary research data
3. ASOR organization and membership

Weaknesses:
1. Lack of financial support:
     staff size to small
     reliance on volunteer staff
     affects on quality of periodicals and books
2. COP Structure:
     reliance on volunteer committee
     communication problems between chair and director
     confusion concerning responsibilities / tasks of Chair of Publications and Dir. of Publications
3. Priority of allocations among journals not defined - should profit making journals be accorded better resources?
4. We are not reaching the broader public with our journals
5. Fiscal irresponsibility -
     major deficits demonstrate a lack of proper financial control by COP
Added comments during discussion -
     good priorities to use available resources have not been set -
     continuity of editorship lacking
     not reaching broader public in our publications
     lack of information - such as listing of our institutions in journals
     no high quality books - good money makers -
     ambivalence concerning targeted audiences -
     no written by-laws.

Opportunities
1. Better management to increase efficiency and profitability
2. Tap the great resource of public interest in archaeology:
     enhance the quality of photos and papers in NEA
     choose articles and writing style targeted for broader public audiences
3. Increase the subscription base:
     ask dig directors to encourage volunteers to subscribe, perhaps by building in subscriptions to volunteer fees.
4. Increase size and breadth of BASOR while maintaining high quality
5. Make use of the many opportunities on the asor.org web page - establish an ASOR internet committee
Added comments during discussion -
     conduct workshops at Annual Meetings for potential contributors to increase quality of submissions.

Threats
1. Rival publications which have captured the largest market share in biblical archaeology.
2. Ongoing ambivalence about the role of NEA - what is its prime audience? Biblical interests? Near Eastern interests? Simply public interest in archaeology of the ancient world?
3. Basic lack of communication which threatens the viability of the program:
     from COP / within COP
     to membership
     basic facts of subscriptions and costs of publication program would be shared more widely with membership.
4. Fear of change:
     fear of taking risks in changing formats, etc.
     fear of embracing new approaches in book styles.
Added comments during discussion -
     exception was take to rival publications as threat - our publications have different audiences.

PROGRAMS (Moderator: Eric Cline)

Strengths:

1. Small intimate setting of Annual Meeting/exhibits:
     collegiality
     connections with and among top scholars
     commonality of interests
     diverse interests and participants
     connections with friends/ social opportunities
     honors for colleagues
     welcomes young blood
2. Promotes and stimulates interest in the field:
     long and established scholarly reputation
     growing
     key ideas from senior scholars
     many good intentions
     presentation of dig results at meetings
     ability to absorb new ideas
3. Leadership/other:
     success on partnering with other societies and organizations
     opportunities and exposure
     publications for classrooms
     survived split with SBL/AAR in good form

Weaknesses
1. Too incestuous:
     lack of involvement of junior scholars
     lack of involvement of senior scholars
     lack of involvement of foreign scholars
     projection of exclusivity and unwelcoming to "outsiders"
     near absence of Arab Americans
     near absence of Mesopotamian scholars
     excludes the average SBL teacher
     lack of coordination with other archaeological organizations in the US
     meeting on our own
     lack of job interviews at meetings
     expensive to attend (money and time)
     conflicting dates with other meetings
2. Waning institutional support:
     changes in constituency
     lack of funds
     conflicting scholarly agendas
3. Quality Control
     lack of strategic plan
     lack of annual assessment of program
     spicier programs needed
     lack of technology for presentations
4. Lack of sponsors and other problems
     lack of commitment and consensus on part of ASOR
     lack of adequate promotion and advertising
5. Depressing Situation
     bad blood with SBL/AAR
     social atmosphere needs improvement

Opportunities
1. Public Outreach:
     better use of resources
     ASOR documentaries (with A&E, Discovery)
     community development (coming out of "ivory towers")
     more effective use of publicity / taking advantage of public media
     promotion of lay interest
     tours and cruises
     more advertising
     special workshops and seminars
    absorb/emulate BAS
     annual lecture tours by scholars
    natural appeal of our disciples
     world wide web
     central clearing house of scholars and topics (for media reporters)
2. Sponsors (Middle East Corporations, etc.)
     fund raising
     travel tours
3. Synergies with other archaeological organizations:
     connecting in antiquity interests
     upcoming connections with AIA (ala Jane Waldbaum as president-elect)
     regional multi-disciplinary/cross-border approaches to topics and themes
4. Internal doctrines and fundamentalism
     get rid of glass ceiling
     more women
     more minorities
     more diversity
     advance and broaden individual careers
     people identifying themselves as ASOR members as strategic
     taking initiatives on topics (not being just reactive)
     challenges of impacting academic curricula
     consider changing name/acronym
     locations for our subjects (places existing in academia, etc.)

Threats
1. Competition for Resources and Attention
     SBL, AAR, BAS, AIA, AOS, ARCE, Recontre
     CAARI, ACOR, AIAR
     Pressure from special interest groups
     Hollywood-ization
     disconnect between ASOR and Academics
     other organizations seizing opportunities from us.
2. Becoming irrelevant - isolation/lack of connection with others
     irreversible decline in humanities area in academic curricula
     lack of vision/focus
     decline of community interest
     delusions of success
     malaise/lack of interest
     geriatrics
     lack of interest because of Middle East problems
     biases of cultural opinions
     lack of interest at schools and lectures
     what universities are selling us or not
3. Marketplace effects
    expenses of meeting venues
     rising costs of field excavations
4. Conflict in the Middle East

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ORGANIZATION / DEVELOPMENT (Moderator: Holland Hendrix)

Opportunities: Strategic Alliances

1. Sister Societies
     explore renewing relationship w/SBL (specifically re-invite them to accept position on our Board)
     explore relationships with AIA, AOS, ARCE, ARIT, AAA, MESA, SAA, SHAA
2. Affiliated Centers
     center contributions to ASOR
     attract young students / have fellowships
     increases membership
     provide a wide range of in-field services
     workshops
     research facilities
     positive representation of projects to Antiquities authorities
     ASOR contributes to centers
     funding
     public relations
     networking to the centers
     organizes meetings
     umbrellas centers with CAORC
     promotion of center accomplishments

Opportunities: Communication
1. Internal
     list summer field projects [we already do this - see our excavation list -ed.]
     provide "real time" information that is kept up to date
     need materials for Board members more in advance
     use means of electronic communication more fully
     send our financial statements with explanation for lay interpretation
     report on Board of Trustees decisions (use e-mail lists and web site)
     when changing board members and committees communicate w/ centers for representation
     find ways to encourage better inter-office communication
     upgrade electronic list of members
     copy Directors offices on committee reports
     communicate roles and responsibilities of committees and its members
     meet deadlines (e.g. Newsletter copy, minutes, committee reports)
     develop institutional calendar with deadlines noted
     communicate field schedules with responsibilities
     keep overseas fellowships opportunity lists and awards up to date
     create and distribute web site map [see site map page -ed.]
     create (or use, e.g. Yahoo list-MSN) ASOR chat room/discussion group options
2. Constituencies and external target audiences
     regularly update and publish list of institutional members with dues paid
     establish committee(s) to represent the various fragments of ASOR
     survey members on interests and disciplines and publish results
     define potential constituents and contact them to bring into the field
     do an analysis of panels/programs and attendance: see if it is mainly reflective of where meetings are held
     extend ASOR to include a wider chronological and geographical area
     dedicate Saturday to biblically related presentations in return for archaeologically related topics on Sunday in relation to common SBL/AAR meeting venues
     define not only by interest areas but by academic status
     make more emphasis on New Testament/Rabbinic archaeology
     raise $2 million to carry out all these suggestions
     use our membership and contacts with ACLS more fully
     distribute information on the fellowships they are offering.
3. Marketing Strategy:
     use asor.org web to describe purpose [see mission statement - ed.]
     establish web links to other professional societies [see links page - ed.]
     finish new informational brochure
     market who we are to leaders, presidents, deans & leaders of other businesses, institutions
     publish An ASOR Mosaic
     create a coffee table book, full color that will promote ASOR
     develop press relations
     get mailing lists of major publications and send them copy
     each member develop local press contacts and personally given them ASOR materials
     stamp ASOR and asor.org web address on anything that you are associated with
     set up interviews with local press when holding meetings
     encourage dig participants to join ASOR, read NEA
     decide on whether to join existing web portal(s) on archaeology or create own (e.g. archaeology.com)
     advertise, advertise
     be more active in career awareness efforts
     on asor.org web create a page of scholars and their specialties
     participate in international congress on the archaeology of the ancient Near East.
4. Surviving, Growing, Flourishing
     establish a process to develop a scholarly agenda
     facilitate and serve various scholarly agendas
     eradicate the perception of elitism and exclusiveness
     follow ethical policies
     plan and advertise meetings for "regular" people
     provide training that students will need to help them in their future jobs
     work with curriculum planners and text publishing firms (all levels of schools)
     put student placement/job openings on asor.org web
     invite interviewers to our meetings
     establish archives for "dead digs" and/ or "dead digs locator" information
     identify job opportunities
     cultivate support needed for individual scholars and their schools
     provide letters of advocacy
     offer funds to publish old excavations
     recruit volunteer help

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