126 PCMA CONVENE FEBRUARY 2016 PCMACONVENE.ORG
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THERE’S A MEETING FOR THAT
Established in Paris in 1886, the International Phonetic Associa- tion first formalized the study of
speech sounds. Its flagship event, the
International Congress of Phonetic
Sciences (ICPhS) — a forum for the
presentation of basic and applied
research in phonetic sciences — takes
place every four years.
A five-person Scottish Consortium
Steering Committee and a local advisory
board — a total of 23 representatives
from four Scottish universities —
planned ICPhS 2015, which drew nearly
a thousand academic researchers from
47 countries. The collaboration worked
so well this year that steering committee member D. Robert Ladd, emeritus
professor of linguistics at the University
of Edinburgh, said it “will certainly have
some lasting effects in terms of further
activities during the coming years.”
SPEAK YOUR MIND One of those lasting
effects will be how ICPhS handles the
call-for-papers process. “I was happy
to be able to push my agenda about
reforming the way papers were evaluated for acceptance,” Ladd said. “This
was a two-stage review process. In stage
one, over 200 reviewers reviewed over
900 full scientific papers; these were
ratified by the 22 stage-two reviewers.”
Another initiative introduced in
Glasgow that may stick is the Discus-
sant Sessions. In this new format, a
themed set of papers was discussed by
an established expert, making the ses-
sion more interactive.
SPE E CH! One challenge ICPhS 2015
met was keeping the five-day event
registration fee affordable, which no
doubt helped attract 20 percent more
attendees than expected.
And while it may not seem that
academics who study speech need any
encouragement to practice the art of
conversation, they were helped in that
respect by SECC’s environment. “ICPhS
creates invaluable opportunities for
meeting up with colleagues, and this
is definitely what it’s all about,” Ladd
said. “In that connection, having huge
breakout space with plenty of comfort-
able furniture was important. I had two
or three longish meetings there with
people I don’t normally get to see, so the
physical setup made a real difference.”
Plus, according to the University of
Glasgow’s Jane Stuart-Smith, convers-
ing with native Glasgownians was a
“phonetic treasure trove” for attendees. . — Michelle Russell
Speaking Engagement
18th International
Congress of
Phonetic Sciences
Aug. 10–14, 2015
Scottish Exhibition +
Conference Centre (SECC)
Glasgow, Scotland
icphs2015.info
Attendees 992
Exhibitors 18
Loud and Clear ICPhS 2015
content centered on all things
speech-related: speech
production, speech acoustics,
speech perception, intonation
patterns, first- and second-language acquisition, forensic
phonetics, speaking styles, voice
quality, clinical phonetics, and
speech technology.
The value of vocal communication underscored even the
planning of the event, which
was supported by professional
conference organizer (PCO)
Intelligent Events Ltd. University
of Glasgow professor Jane Stuart-Smith worked closely with the
PCO in her role as chair of the
ICPhS 2015 Scottish Consortium
Steering Committee. She said:
“The people at Intelligent Events
listened carefully and offered
sensible and consistent support.”