ICOM#12 – Sadly, from Afar

This was to be my annual conference highlight: I was looking forward to meeting long-time and new colleagues, learning about the latest trends in multimodality research, and showcasing some of my recent work. Sadly, I couldn’t board that plane and spent all the conference days sick at home. It’s all the more ironic, as my own talk would have been about travel/leisure ads.

Hartmut STÖCKL / Title Slide ICOM#12 presentation – scheduled but cancelled

Missing ICOM this time is especially unfortunate, as my Salzburg colleagues had arranged a panel in my honor (I turned 60 this year). In the face of all their preparatory fervor, I feel terrible about having to stand them up. So, here goes a huge ‚thank you‘ to Jana PFLAEGING, Rebekah WEGENER, and Martin KALTENBACHER for the panel idea in the first place and for what I heard was a brilliant execution, which drew a sizable audience and invited much discussion. Below are a few words about the workshops’s format.

This interactive workshop hosts a series of pitches that present various perspectives on “Theory”, “Methods”, and “Application” in multimodality. It brings together different approaches to core questions of multimodality research and offers plenty of time for discussion – opportunities to turn the lens and to experience diverse reflections on a multimodal world. (ICOM#12 Programme)

I am also greatly indebted to the panelists (John BATEMAN, Charles FORCEVILLE, Tuomo HIIPPALA, Martin LUGINBÜHL, Kay O’HALLORAN, Assimakis TSERONIS, Janina WILDFEUER), who had kindly agreed to contribute and make the event come true. Yes, certainly, it would have felt odd to hear my tune sung, but admittedly, I would have enjoyed this for once. Thanks also to everyone who attended and made the discussion fruitful and constructive.

Naturally, my thoughts go out in gratefulness to Janina WILDFEUER and her team of organizers. From what I saw and heard from afar, ICOM#12 was a fabulous event, full of thematic glamour and run on extremely smooth infrastructural grounds. I don’t know where Janina takes all the strength to shoulder such a huge event (alongside her many research, teaching and admin obligations). What I do know is that I am full of the deepest admiration for Janina’s determination, stamina and intellectual powers.

I just saw that the vote is on for a venue and organizing team of ICOM#13. Let’s hope I will be able to go there, wherever it will take us.