May 1999 Volume 21 Number 2

President's Letter

1999 Annual Meeting planning is underway. The two-day meeting will be held in San Francisco at SFMOMA on November 15th and 16th. But make sure to arrive on Sunday the 14th because we will hold our annual dinner at the world-renowned Greens Restaurant as a kick-off to the conference. Greens will not disappoint even the most seasoned of palates. Zagat's calls it "Heaven by the Bay", the "mothership of vegetarian cuisine where veg-heads can indulge in extraordinary clear-conscience cooking". There's a superb wine list as well as drop-dead gorgeous views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Hold that date now!

Call for Papers - There's no place like a WAAC conference to present a paper. Please be thinking about treatments, topics, and issues you've had on your mind recently to share with the group. In addition to the usual mix of papers on various conservation topics, the 1999 program will take a look at some of the more far-reaching effects of what we do - the why and how of what we change that comes down to us. By exploring this notion of intervention, our contributions to the creation of cultural memory will be discussed.

I am very pleased to announce that the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) will host a 1 day (post-session) workshop on Wednesday, November 17th for WAAC members. BAVC, the nation's largest media arts center, is a resource for nonprofit organizations and independent artists and provides hands-on technical training using state-of-the-art equipment. Given that preservation of video material will likely always involve facilities like BAVC, this workshop will equip participants with introductory knowledge to assist them in playing an informed role in the collaborative effort of caring for these new technologies. Three distinct programmatic elements have been outlined for the day: (1) introduction of the basic concepts and essential terminology of digital production and post production, (2) participation in a demo of the actual videotape preservation process, and (3) hands-on experience with nonlinear digital video and audio editing to explore the possibilities of creating and altering the images we see all around us.

As it stands now, enrollment for this great opportunity is limited to 15-20 people. Cost is estimated at around $120 for the day. More details will be included in your WAAC registration packets when they are mailed out this summer. While sign-up will happen through BAVC, please e-mail me (jsterrett@sfmoma.org) or call me at 415.357.4053 if you know you'd like to attend. An early straw poll will help us to make sure we've properly gauged membership interest in this event.

It was a pleasure to have the WAAC Board of Directors in San Francisco for our mid-year meeting on March 19th. We covered a lot of ground and there are a couple of items I'd like to make special mention of in this letter.

After not too much discussion, we have come to the conclusion that we need to raise annual WAAC dues for individuals from $25 to $30. A number of factors--including the addition of a new Board member and increased postal rates--have influenced this decision. I did look into our records and found that we have enjoyed the current rate of $25 since 1992. I hope you agree that, even at $30/year, WAAC membership is still a terrific bargain. We anticipate this change will take effect at the time of the next membership renewal.

Please take a moment to look at the proposed changes to the By-laws which are printed in this issue of the Newsletter. These proposed changes formalize the job descriptions of Secretary and Treasurer now that these duties are being filled by two people (instead of one). We will be voting on these proposed amendments at the Annual Meeting in November. Thank you again to Heida and to Chris for attending to all the details of this transition.

I continue to be impressed with the tireless efforts at work, and play, in WAAC. Thanks to all of you who contribute your time and thoughts to the organization. Your continuing involvement keeps it thriving.