[Sigtaudelt] FW: Sigma Tau Delta Convention News Flash

[Dowdey, Diane]

From: sigmaoffice at niu.edu [mailto:sigmaoffice at niu.edu]
Sent: Thursday, October 27, 2011 7:01 PM
To: Dowdey, Diane
Subject: Sigma Tau Delta Convention News Flash


If this message is not displaying properly, click here<http://www.english.org/sigmatd/news/2011/newsflash_convention_102611.html> to launch your browser.

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October 27, 2011

The Last-Minute Scramble

When your Sponsor first mentioned the convention at the start of the semester, you did some quick math in your head and realized that you had over two months until the November-something deadline. Oh, sure, you had some peers who were already scouring old flash drives or sorting through the papers they'd arranged neatly into folders labeled by course and professor. But that's never been your style, just not how you work as a scholar, and you knew you had plenty of time.

By the end of September, after a couple of chapter meetings, you had heard more about convention. Set in New Orleans? Exposure to famous writers? An opportunity to get away from homework for reasons your professors would accept, even encourage? You knew you definitely wanted to attend, and presenting something you had written would be the icing on the cake. The deadline was November 1, you vaguely remembered hearing your Sponsor say. But, fortunately, not knowing what you intended to submit wasn't a problem. Why, you had over a month to work on whatever essay you were writing for Dr. What's-His-Name's class. And you thought you might work on a piece of creative non-fiction about your faild attempt at resuing the sapling palm tree. (You still have sand imbedded in the floor mats of your car!) Plenty of time.

By the middle of October, you had probably seen the website two or three times. It was attractive, you decided, surprisingly so for something so very...orange. With over two weeks to go until November 1, as the convention chair reminded you in her email-wait, two weeks? That couldn't be right, you thought to yourself. You counted it out on the calendar. Yep, two. Scrap the idea for the creative non-fiction; you've got two exams this week and a proposal due for that essay you're supposed to write for your Tuesday-night literature class. Unfortunately, a proposal's not going to get you very far in the submission process.

Whatever happened to plenty of time?

You're now in the week before the November 1 deadline, and the panic last week reminded you to go looking for that very scholarly critical essay you wrote last spring. By the grace of the academic gods, you've also located the professor's comments and are delighted to be reminded that she was highly complimentary, calling your work "insightful." How had you forgotten that? you wonder. You dedicate a second of regret to referring to her as an "antediluvian termagant" on RateMyProfessor.com, even though you still like the ring of that phrase. The professor also gave you a marvelous suggestion for additional support from one of the critical works you had read together as a class. (You decide you really should go back and delete that comment from your evaluation.)

Could it happen again? You close your eyes and dig back into the pile where you discovered the graded essay, astonished when you put your hand on the very photocopy you needed. After taking the time to do some minor polishing and to add two quotes from (and a Work Cited entry for) the new source, you go back to the convention website and check the "Submission Guidelines<http://www.englishconvention.org/sigmatd/conv/papers.html>." Why not get a jump on this, you decide. You follow the instructions carefully and, in no time at all, have your work submitted through EBMS. What were you waiting for, anyway, you ask yourself.

At the meeting this week, the one where the officers ask for a final headcount of who is planning to submit and/or attend, you admit modestly that you've already submitted. But, hey...you have plenty of time to help any of your fellow chapter members walk through the submission process. There is no reason to panic, after all-they have until November 1 to submit.

Plenty of time.

 *   Submission Overview<http://www.englishconvention.org/sigmatd/conv/submissions.html>
 *   Preparing to Submit Papers<http://www.englishconvention.org/sigmatd/conv/submission-tips.html>
 *   Paper Submission Guidelines and Instructions<http://www.englishconvention.org/sigmatd/conv/papers.html> Note: Keyword guideline addition


Sent by Sigma Tau Delta, Department of English, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115-2863
E-mail sigmaoffice at niu.edu<mailto:sigmaoffice at niu.edu>      (c) 2011 Sigma Tau Delta. All rights reserved.


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