I am pleased to announce that SCSECS, the South-Central
Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, has already developed a
complete convention package deal for
its 1999 meeting in Shreveport, Louisiana.
For those of you who haven't already heard the glorious news, SCSECS has freed itself from the nonage of university patronage and is now financing its own conventions. SCSECS is thus able to deliver far greater convention value at a lower price: it can meet where it pleases, whether or not there is a university in town; it can avoid the outrageous surcharges imposed by university convention bureaus, the overhead attached to university grants, and the above-market costs of university service providers. Last year's university-free meeting in San Antonio was one of the greatest conventions of all time, in any discipline; the upcoming convention in Shreveport will continue the tradition of elegance, excitement, and excellence at K-Mart prices.
That soon-to-be legendary meeting, at Shreveport, Louisiana, February 25-27, 1999, will have a single, unified registration fee of $65.00, a fee that COVERS EVERYTHING--yes, you understood me correctly, EVERYTHING, and, believe you me, at SCSECS we have A LOT OF EVERYTHING, indeed so much of everything that even the most optimistic of philosophers--the Spinozas, the Leibnizes, the Newtons, the Alexander Popes--would reel in wonder!
Look at what you'll be getting for that SINGLE, COVERS-EVERYTHING registration fee:
1. When possible and with a prior appointment (three
weeks before arrival), FREE PICKUP AT THE SHREVEPORT
AIRPORT. That's right--no pricey limousine
service, no
tips to footmen and footwomen, no nonsense. Step off
the airplane and you've already saved $15.00!
2. Continuous access to the PERPETUAL
HOSPITALITY SUITE to be manned/womanned by SCSECS officers Kevin
Cope, Bob Leitz, Susan Spencer, and various cheerful, congenial proxies.
That's right--no
more outrageous restaurant bills for a cup o' Joe or a
juicy doughnut. Totally free, totally congenial, and
totally scrumptious!
3. A MAJOR GOODIES AND EATIES RECEPTION at one of
the world's most extraordinary and still overlooked rare
book libraries, the magnificent James Smith Noel Memorial
Collection in the new, daringly postmodern Noel
Memorial Library, a repository of nearly 250,000 books,
most of them first editions, with several thousand of them from
our period of specialty. The reception will offer
delicious wine, cheese, and hors d'oeuvres, a plenary
introductory chat on the Noel Collection, browsing
time, and a chance to frolic in a social architectural
space composed entirely of costly silvery granite,
mirrors, and grand openness!
5. Another SCSECS first--A COUNTRY-CLUB BIG-FOOD
BOTTOMLESS SMORGASBORD BRUNCH INTERDISCIPLINARY MUSICAL
PLENARY EXTRAVAGANZA! Like Hercules, conference Chair
Bob Leitz is known throughout the golfing world for his
skill with a club (when I visited him recently,
numerous golfers came to his commanding veranda-table
and gave him the "high five" when learning he had shot
a 76 on Shreveport's grueling links!--the scene was
reminiscent of Alexander's most glorious victories!),
but few know that the eminent Leitz is also a Deacon of
Deliciosities. Co-Chair Leitz has put his personal
Country Club at our disposal for the ULTIMATE PLENARY
EVENT OF ALL TIME.
We shall conclude the gala with a concert from the renowned
University of Central Oklahoma Chamber Orchestra, all
while feasting the eyes on the tranquil greens, the
reflective pools, and sublime fairways of Bob Leitz's
signature golf course!
You get everything--including
two huge dinners and a food-enhanced reception, transportation, a
concert, contest entries, and so so so so much more!
Looking forward to seeing you there,
View the program in detail
4. A SUMPTUOUS DINNER AT RALPH AND KACOOS of
Shreveport, one of the most renowned, memorable, and
delicious of all restaurants in the world, a favorite
of alligators, and a gem of Acadiana! Conference Co-Chairs Bob Leitz
and Kevin Cope have selected the
premium menu for this event--crawfish, trout, steak, a
million Cajun condiments and side-dishes, satiny-yummy
desserts--all for your delectation! Plus, the
environment is FUN FUN FUN! You'll
gorge with joy over
downhome, up-the-bayou specialties and relish the
wittiest of conversation--no more stoking down a slab
of flaked turkey on a scoop of Mrs. Cubbinson's
dressing covered with yellow glop while someone on a
podium crabs about oppression!
We shall ferry
out to the Southern
Trace Country Club, where we shall be received in
luxurious surroundings and be feted to an upper-south
brunch-buffet, with everything from grits to bacon to
omelettes to joy! Then we shall hear an
interdisciplinary address from James Winn, former
Director of the Humanities Institute of the University
of Michigan, Chairman of the Department at Boston
University, concert flutist and recording star, and
much-plaudited eighteenth-century scholar!
6. AUTOMATIC ENTRY IN THE SCSECS FLIGHT RAFFLE!
Pilot and Co-Chair Kevin Cope will be flying in a Cherokee
180D to Shreveport and will hold a FREE raffle at the
Ralph and Kacoos event in which some lucky member will
win a free sightseeing airplane tour around Shreveport
(or, in the event of bad weather or scheduling
difficulties, a similar flight at the next meeting or
at some other convenient time). See the wonders of
Shreveport from high above, just as might the Olympian
gods!
7. ELIGIBILITY FOR THE SPENCER PUBLICATION PRIZE!
President Emeritus Susan Spencer did such a fine job in
selecting the Kevin Cope publication prize--publication
of an expanded version of the best paper presented at
SCSECS in the award-winning 1650-1850: Ideas,
Aesthetics, and Inquiries in the Early Modern Era--that
1650-1850 editor Kevin Cope has decided to renew
the prize and rename it after the aristocratically-monikered Susan Spencer!
Lord willing and the creek
don't rise, Professor Spencer will choose one lucky
essay for publication in Volume 6 of the
aforementioned journal. Or you might win one of our cash
prizes for best
paper or best paper by a graduate student!
Let us not forget that this is ALL COVERED BY ONE REGISTRATION
FEE. There will be no check-off list
of a million mini-fees
that seem cheap but that total up to big bucks. You register,
pay the one fee, and that's it!
Kevin L. Cope
SCSECS Co-Chair for Programs
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