10.07.2006

III INTERNATIONAL RCA CONFERENCE-2006: THE IMPRESSION

The Russian Communication Association recently held its 3rd Annual International Conference in Saint Petersburg, Russia on 12-16 June 2006. The conference was sponsored by St. Petersburg State University, M.A. Bonch-Bruevich State University for Telecommunications, St. Petersburg Institute of Foreign Economic Relations, Economics and Law, and the Nevsky Institute of Language and Culture. It was also sponsored by the Russian Communication Association and the North American Russian Communication Association.

Over 100 scholars participated in the conference from many Russian cities, including Barnaul, Ekaterinburg, Kaluga, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, Saratov, St. Petersburg, Tomsk, Volgograd, etc. In addition, several scholars from Belorus, Kazakhstan, and the Ukraine participated, as did scholars from Australia, China, Poland, the Netherlands, South Africa, Turkey, and the USA.

The conference exchanged scholarly reports and ideas on many areas of the communication field, including philosophy and theory of communication, mass and media communication, organizational, professional, and business communication, political communication and rhetoric, interpersonal and small group communication, applied communication, communication education, computer-mediated communication and advanced information technologies, public speaking pedagogy, and cross-cultural/intercultural communication.

Donal Carbaugh of the University of Massachusetts, USA, writes, “It is a rare occasion when one gets to hear colleagues in Communication from various countries discuss their research. Discussions as these help test our views of communication, its definitions, methodologies for studying it, as well as what good communication indeed is. I found the conference excellent stimulation for considerable thought.” Edward Clift from Woodbury University in Los Angeles, USA, also commented, “The RCA conference in St. Petersburg was a wonderful event! The conference organizers did a fantastic job organizing the seminars and field trips. I enjoyed meeting my international colleagues and learning about their diverse research interests. I will miss the conversations and good times.”

Other participants have commented that the conference was a wonderful success as it brought together many scholars of different backgrounds to one location and allowed participants to share their research, debate ideas, and explore different scientific, theoretical, and philosophical approaches and concepts in fruitful and spirited ways.

The conference participants also enjoyed many cultural and historical excursions in St. Petersburg, including a city bus tour, a boat trip on the Neva River, a walk down Nevsky Prospekt, a ballet, and Russian folklore show. In addition, many participants took advantage of the conference location to see other parts of St. Petersburg, and visited the Hermitage Museum and the Lomonosov Porcelain Factory.

The conference owes much of is success of Olga Matyash, president of the Russian Communication Association, her husband Dan Buskey, and Olga Filatova of St. Petersburg State University. Their efforts planned the conference, secured different conference hosting-sites, arranged the conference schedule, planned the different cultural excursions, and handled all of the behind-the-scenes work that typically goes unnoticed by conference participants. This conference would not have been successful without their efforts over the past two years since the Rostov conference. We are truly indebted to all of their tireless, thankless work and efforts.

We look forward to the 2008 conference, to visiting our old friends, making new friends, and discussing all things communication with everyone.

With warm regards,
Maureen Minielly, PhD
Department of Communication Studies
Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis
Indianapolis, USA