A Proposal to Host Computers and Writing 2011
University of Michigan
I. Overview
II. Background Information
III. Conference Funding
IV. Conference Facilities
V. Conference Program and Events
VI. Conference Management and Staff
I. Overview:
In 2010, writing is in motion as never before: students text one another on the go and around the clock; colleagues
and friends use wikis to brainstorm and to co-author important documents; choreographers and filmmakers use
motion capture technology to “write down” movement and gesture; and poets invent new multimedia poetic forms.
The places we write, and the features of writing we value, are today more varied — and often more contested —
than ever before.
One especially prominent dimension of these changes is a reconfiguration of public and private space. A single
ordinary writing activity today may traverse any number of borders. Classrooms connect with authentic audiences
via public electronic portfolios and blogs; private companies partner with public universities to digitize library
holdings; personal emails and business memos are archived in the NCTE National Gallery of Writing; faculty share
course materials with students on other continents.
The University of Michigan and the Sweetland Writing Center are the site of vibrant and varied scholarship and
dialogue around these new writing technologies and practices. Exciting work in multimedia pedagogy and
production, open source technologies, digital humanities, and new media performance make Ann Arbor a vital and
welcoming destination for the 2011 Computers and Writing conference.
II. Background Information:
1. Date Application Posted
November 1, 2009
2. Name of Organizing Committee Chair/Lead Applicant
Anne Ruggles Gere
Director, Sweetland Writing Center
Gertrude Buck Collegiate Professor
Naomi Silver
Associate Director, Sweetland Writing Center
3. Institution
University of Michigan
4. Postal and Email Address
Sweetland Writing Center
University of Michigan
1139 Angell Hall
435 S. State Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
argere@umich.edu
nesilver@umich.edu
5. Phone
734.764.0429 (Sweetland Writing Center)
734.936.3144 (Laura Schuyler, administrative assistant)
6. Name, Affiliation, and Contact Information for All Other Organizing Committee Members
Christopher Schmidt
Lecturer in English and the Sweetland Writing Center
chriscs@umich.edu
7. Clear indication of which conference—onsite, online, or both—that you are proposing to host.
Onsite conference
8. Year & Proposed Dates
May 12-15, 2011
As far as we've been able to determine, these dates do not conflict with other major spring rhetoric and composition
conferences, and they also avoid graduations and other especially busy times on the U-M campus.
III. Conference Funding:
1. Source of funding
Internal university funding
The Gayle Morris Sweetland Writing Center and several other U-M units, including the Department of English, the
School of Information, the Department of Communication Studies, the School of Education, and the College of
Literature, Science and the Arts will provide a key part of the conference budget (see chart below).
Conference registration fees
We are maintaining 2010 conference fee structures, in order to keep expenses low. Registration includes breakfast
and lunch on most days, ongoing beverage and snack service, the Saturday banquet and entertainment event, and the
Thursday welcome reception. Other local events and entertainment (e.g., tours, canoe trips on the Huron River, pub
crawl transportation) will be free to participants.
Corporate and vendor sponsorship
We are in dialogue with Google and with vendors and publishers to sponsor some conference events. We also will
seek sponsorship of graduate student travel awards, as we have done successfully for past conferences we have
hosted.
2. Amount of funding
Category
Number of Attendees Amount Total
General Registration
250
$200
$50,000
Late General Registration
50
$250
$12,500
Student/Adjunct Registration
75
$150
$13,125
Student/Adjunct Late Registration
25
$175
$4,375
Half-Day Workshops
50
$50
$2,500
Full-Day Workshops
50
$80
$4,000
Gayle Morris Sweetland Writing Center and other U-M units
$27,670
TOTAL: $114,170
3. How will you allocate funding? (Please attach detailed preliminary budget)
Keynote Speaker honorariums – 4 speakers
$8,000
Keynote Speaker Travel and Lodging – 4 speakers
$4,000
Parking Passes – 50 in Ann Arbor city lot (96 hrs @ $.90 per hour)
$4,320
Staffing
$4,500
Room rental for Keynote address, Banquet, and Welcome Reception
$1,100
AV rental Thursday – Sunday
$10,000
Promotion and Onsite brochures
$4,000
Awards and Entertainment
$4,000
Conference Services, registration, name badges, folders
$14,000
Food – Thursday continental breakfast (100)
$1,200
Food – Thursday box lunch (100)
$1,200
Food – Thursday Welcome reception (300 attendees)
$9,600
Food – Friday, Saturday, Sunday continental breakfast (400/400/300) $14,300
Food – Friday box lunch (400)
$4,800
Food – Saturday buffet lunch (400)
$8,400
Food – Saturday Evening Banquet (400)
$15,200
Food - Friday, Saturday, Sunday beverage stations
$5,550
TOTAL:
$114,170
4. Approximately what will you charge for registration? What will additional events (e.g., special tours or
trips) costs?
Category
Before April 1, 2011
After April 1, 2011
General Registration Fee
$200
$250
Student/Adjunct Fee
$150
$175
Pre-Conference Half-Day Workshop
$50
$75
in addition to conference fee in addition to conference fee
Pre-Conference Full-Day Workshop
$80
$100
in addition to conference fee in addition to conference fee
IV. Conference Facilities:
1. In the past, up to 400 people have registered for the Computers and Writing onsite conference. Please list
hotel(s) or dorm(s) and number of rooms to be set aside for attendees.
a. Main facility providing accommodations
North Quad Residential and Academic Complex, a new construction which will be completed in the fall of 2010,
will be a showcase for the study of media and information in a digital environment. This new facility will house the
Sweetland Writing Center, as well as Screen Arts and Culture, Communication Studies, the School of Information,
and the Language Resource Center. Classrooms and technology-rich common spaces will provide meeting sites for
conference panels and a variety of other presentation formats.
We expect substantial housing to be available in the North Quad residential building, though rates will not be
available until construction is complete. Please refer to the comparable Mary Markley Hall rates below.
Campus Inn – ½ block from conference site
75 rooms
$151 single/ $174 double
Bell Tower Hotel – 1 block from conference site
55 rooms
$158 single/ $180 double
Mary Markley Hall –air-conditioned rooms, private baths, computing site
80 rooms
$55 single / $80 double
Onetime fee of $1.50 per person for Administrative assistance
4 Points Sheraton – three miles from campus
65 rooms
$99 single or double
Complimentary shuttle to campus
Bus service to and from Detroit Metropolitan airport provided by Michigan Flyer for a fee of $30 round trip.
b. Number of rooms reserved
275
c. Additional Hotels
There are several major hotel chains (including Holiday Inn, Comfort Inn, Days Inn, Sheraton, Marriott) as well as
several bed and breakfasts within three miles or less of the U-M campus. We will provide this information on the
conference website.
d. Number of rooms reserved
Rooms may be reserved at these hotels, as need arises, nearer to the conference date.
2. What will you do to provide a location and adequate exposure for exhibitors? How will you guard against
uneven placement and ensure traffic for the exhibits?
North Quad provides two excellent sites for displays in close proximity to the conference sessions: the two-level
Media Gateway provides a central "walk-through" environment for exhibitors on the ground and main floors of the
building, and the Ehrlicher Room provides a large room with a picture window overlooking central campus. Both of
these spaces allow easy circulation for equal exposure. We intend to combine vendor exhibits, posters, and
installations in both spaces to ensure activity and interaction among multiple forms of conference display.
3. What will be the cost of hotel or university accommodations for attendees?
Costs for reserved rooms will range from $55 single / $80 double in the dormitories to $99 single or double at the 4
Points Sheraton to $158 single/ $180 double in the Bell Tower Hotel (please see details above). Mid-range and less
expensive rooms are available nearby.
4. Why are you a good site for the conference in terms of excellence of faculty planners, computer/conference
facilities, and accommodations?
Our strength in faculty planners has several dimensions. Conference co-chair and Sweetland Director, Anne Gere
has planned several national conferences including CCCC and NCTE, and she has managed a number of budgets.
In the last four years, the Sweetland Writing Center has hosted two conferences of roughly similar size to
Computers and Writing, and two smaller ones: the 2005 Originality, Imitation, Plagiarism conference with 250
attendees; the 2006 National Conference on Peer Tutoring in Writing with 400 attendees; the 2007 Originality,
Imitation, and Plagiarism: Teaching Writing in the Digital Age book symposium with 125 attendees; and the 2008
(Re)Viewing Sweetland 30th anniversary conference with 50 attendees.
As a result, the unit has developed strong working relationships with University conference services, facilities, and
local hotels and vendors, and the Center’s support staff are skilled at large event planning. Additionally, many
Sweetland faculty (including conference co-chair Naomi Silver) have served in a variety of roles on the planning
committees for these conferences, and our undergraduate peer tutors were instrumental in providing logistical
support of all kinds for OIP and NCPTW. Finally, in our regional Advisory Board, we have colleagues with
considerable expertise in both conference planning and new media scholarship and pedagogy, including Cynthia
Selfe (OSU), Dickie Selfe (OSU), Julie Klein (WSU), Steven Krause (EMU), and Gail Hawisher (UIUC).
Sweetland’s conferences have attracted several high profile keynote speakers both in the worlds of rhetoric and
composition and new media technologies, including Lawrence Lessig, Siva Vaidhyanathan, Jacqueline Jones
Royster, Anis Bawarshi, Rebecca Moore Howard, Chris Anson, Nancy Grimm, Linda Adler-Kassner, Charles
Bazerman, and others. We expect to continue this track record as we invite our four planned keynote speakers for
Computers and Writing 2011.
The North Quad facilities offer classrooms, labs, “project rooms,” performance venues, and a unique Image Cafe, all
with a range of hardware and software designed to support a variety of digital projects. North Quad will provide a
state-of-the-art facility to match the energy and innovation of this conference. Additional large computing facilities
are available in nearby classroom buildings for conference attendees’ use. Steps away from North Quad is the
classically styled Rackham Building, built in 1936, whose large amphitheater offers a prime site for keynote talks;
and the Michigan League, another half-block further and built in 1929, offers a grand ballroom space for the
Saturday banquet.
The University of Michigan is home to innovations of all kinds in the areas of digital technology and new media –
from our open access community Open.Michigan; to collaborative technologies projects like Sakai/CTools and
SiteMaker; to the Michigan Digitization Project, better known as the Google Books Project; to the Duderstadt
Center’s spaces for digital poetry, motion capture technology, and multimedia performance. We have a thriving
digital humanities faculty presence, and a home for new media writing in the Sweetland Writing Center’s own
recently developed SWC 200 topics courses focusing on the rhetorical dimensions of a range of new media.
Additionally, Michigan’s “research corridor” — comprised of the University of Michigan, Michigan State
University, and Wayne State University — is also a “digital corridor,” with excellent new media and digital
technology research and teaching at all three universities, and the nearby Eastern Michigan University as well.
These local institutions demonstrate high interest in a conference of this sort. In short, Computers and Writing 2011
would find a vibrant and supportive community at U-M, and the opportunity to host the conference would provide a
rich focal point for this variety of digital activity.
5. How far is the conference site from a major transportation hub? Identify any potential travel agency
connections.
The University of Michigan is approximately 30 minutes from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, a major hub of Delta
Airlines. The airport is easily accessible from most major airports via direct flights or brief layovers. There are
multiple shuttle and taxi service options for travel to and from the airport. Additionally, Ann Arbor is a
conveniently located driving destination, within a half-day’s travel from such cities as Chicago, Pittsburgh,
Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. We have budgeted for 50 parking passes in Ann Arbor city lots.
The Sweetland Writing Center has worked frequently with AAA Business Travel Management Services, which
provides U-M discounts.
Phone: 800.854.5044.
6. What computer support can you provide for attendees drafting papers, printing documents, checking
email, and so forth? Are labs available on campus? What kind of Internet access will be available?
North Quad is a wireless facility, as is the University as a whole. Passwords to the network will be provided to all
attendees for unlimited access. Computing sites and tech support will be available within the building, and in other
nearby classroom buildings. Additionally, wireless access is available at all reserved hotels and at many nearby
coffee shops and restaurants, and the Mary Markley Hall houses a computing site. Multimedia editing labs and
other state-of-the-art facilities can also be made available to conference participants.
7. The ideal site will be in a location that offers a safe environment for conference attendees regardless of
their race, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious belief, or cultural background. To your
knowledge, are there any legal, social, or cultural reasons that your site may pose a problem? How does your
site ensure accessibility?
Ann Arbor is known as an open and tolerant city for people of all backgrounds and identifications. As a public
university, University of Michigan buildings are in compliance with state and federal regulations regarding
accessibility. As a new building, North Quad meets the highest standards for universal design.
V. Conference Program and Events:
1. Past conferences have sponsored as many as 55 hour-and-15-minute sessions over a two- or three-day
period. These are concurrent sessions with approximately four speakers for each session. Conferences have
commonly begun with workshops, registration, and (sometimes a) keynote or reception on Thursday, held
concurrent sessions all day Friday and Saturday and on Sunday morning, and occasionally ended with a
brunch or lunch and final speaker on Sunday, followed by an open 7Cs meeting and/or area tours. Briefly
describe your plans for the conference program—its structure, focus, and/or theme.
The theme of the conference will be "Writing in Motion: Traversing Public/Private Spaces."
We intend to maintain the general structure of the program, and will encourage a wide spectrum of session formats
and events. We will hold half-day and full-day workshops on Thursday, and will host the Graduate Research
Network all day. The official conference will kick off Thursday evening with a keynote speaker and opening
reception. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning will be organized around a range of occasions, including
concurrent sessions, poster and installation presentations, town hall meetings, keynote talks, and digital media
performances, as well as the Saturday banquet and various event and entertainment options in the afternoons and
evenings (please see below for details).
We will solicit sessions of the following types:
 panels and individual papers for traditional 90-minute sessions with 3-4 speakers;
 digital colloquia (focused conversations about innovations in the field);
 new media labs (where participants try out new media tools and brainstorm teaching and/or creative
applications);
 roundtable discussions led by 4-8 speakers;
 posters and installations (traditional format, video, software, games, multimedia, etc.);
 new media performances.
We have budgeted 4 keynote speakers, who may be invited to speak individually or in dialogue. Town hall
meetings can draw upon locally based initiatives like the Google Books Project and U-M’s active open access
community.
We plan to offer webcasts of key events, including town hall meetings where we will invite the virtual participation
of an extended audience via telepresence technology, as well as email and instant messaging. We would like to
coordinate as much as we can with the online conference, and look forward to learning more about that
collaboration.
2. Who will you ask to review proposals to ensure high quality?
We have established an Advisory Board that includes faculty from U-M and elsewhere who have expertise in new
media writing and digital technology; members of this Board will help with the review process.
Members of the Advisory Board include (in addition to the planning committee):
Professor Anne Curzan, Department of English, University of Michigan
Professor David Porter, Department of English, University of Michigan
Professor Barry Fishman, School of Education, University of Michigan
Professor Cynthia Selfe, Department of English, Ohio State University
Professor Richard Selfe, Department of English, Ohio State University
Professor Steven Krause, Department of English, Eastern Michigan Unversity
Professor Gail Hawisher, Department of English, University of Illinois
3. Are you planning on sponsoring other events (dinners, tours) that attendees might participate in? If so,
please list, with cost above in the Funding section.
We will host a welcome reception Thursday evening, and a banquet Saturday night. We will arrange entertainment
for both events, drawing on Ann Arbor’s many excellent musical talents (possibilities include The Royal Garden
Trio’s Django Reinhardt-style jazz, or Nomo’s post-afrobeat fusion).
We will also coordinate other free events and activities attendees may choose to attend, such as tours of U-M’s
campus, the recently expanded U-M Museum of Art, the Matthei Botanical Gardens, the Ann Arbor Google offices,
and the 826 Michigan literacy center; a pub-crawl of Ann Arbor’s several independent microbreweries; canoe trips
on the Huron River and nature hikes in the U-M Arboretum; a poetry slam with local slam-master Jeff Kass and a
digital poetry performance with nationally recognized poet Thylias Moss.
4. What specific features are you planning to make your meeting unique or to improve or enhance the
Computers and Writing conference?
Specific features we will offer are:
 Two new session formats: digital colloquia (focused conversations about innovations in the field) and new
media labs (where participants try out new media tools and brainstorm teaching and/or creative
applications);
 Activities related to the Michigan Digitization Project/Google Books Project, such as a town hall discussion
and a tour of the scanning site at Google;
 Coordination with the online conference;
 Newly constructed, state-of-the-art classrooms, presentation spaces, and dormitory;
 Tours and demonstrations at U-M’s Duderstadt Center, including projects at the UM3D Lab;
 Inclusion of local community writing and literacy projects 826 Michigan and The Neutral Zone;
 Inclusion of local and U-M digital artists and performers;
 Broad involvement of student groups, including U-M English and Education graduate students, graduate
students in the interdisciplinary Digital Media Studies Group, and Sweetland Writing Center undergraduate
peer tutors;
 Support from neighboring and regional universities, such as Eastern Michigan University, Wayne State
University, Michigan State University, Ohio State University, and University of Illinois ChampaignUrbana;
 Location in the heart of Ann Arbor, at the edge of campus and minutes from downtown shops and
restaurants, the Kerrytown shops and farmers market, local independent microbreweries and coffee houses,
bookstores, and nature preserves.
Another exciting enhancement is the opportunity to collaborate and coordinate activities with the Humanities, Arts,
Science, and Technology Advanced Collaboratory (HASTAC), which hopes to host its 4th annual conference at the
University of Michigan on the same or an adjacent weekend. The conjunction of two important conferences in the
areas of new media and digital technology will augment regional interest even further and make possible
connections between the two groups that have heretofore gone unexplored.
VI. Conference Management and Staff:
1. What kind of help or advice from past organizers would you find most useful?
We would appreciate information about which kinds of presentation formats have proved most successful and most
popular with conference participants, particularly newer formats. We are also interested in any logistical advice
related to making new media and interactive elements as available as possible, and also advice related to publicity
and marketing beyond the typical rhetoric and composition channels so as to attract a broad audience. Any other
insights or lessons learned that we may not yet anticipate would be most welcome, too!
2. Would you be willing to serve as a non-voting member on the CCCC's Committee on Computers and
Composition for the year preceding and following your sponsoring the conference, to receive and then
provide counsel about sponsoring the conference?
Yes, both Anne Gere and Naomi Silver would be pleased to serve in this capacity.
3. Which previous Computers and Writing Conferences have you and/or your Co-Chairs attended?
Anne Gere attended the 1993 conference, and several other members of the Sweetland faculty have attended more
than one. A number of Sweetland faculty, including Anne Gere, Naomi Silver, and Christopher Schmidt, have
submitted proposals for the 2010 conference and plan to attend.
4. Please add any other comments you might have regarding plans for Computers and
Writing.
In expectation of our move in 2010 to North Quad, and as a result of increasing faculty interest and expertise, the
Sweetland Writing Center has in the past 18 months significantly increased its new media activity. To provide a
snapshot: we have offered 10 different versions of our SWC 200: New Media Writing course since its inception in
Fall 2008, including topics such as "The Rhetoric of Blogging," "New Media for Nonprofits," and "Argumentation
and the Video Essay"; hired a new media specialist to our faculty, Christopher Schmidt; added an e-portfolio
component to our Transition to College Writing course; piloted a synchronous OWL to complement our
asynchronous OWL and face-to-face tutoring options; moved to an online writing workshop scheduling system; and
continued to transfer more and more unit functions into collaborative online spaces. Our interest in hosting
Computers and Writing 2011 represents a logical extension of the energy and enthusiasm directed toward these
efforts, and we are excited at the opportunity once again to become active members of this long-standing
community.