Another Conference Announcement: Automobile Film Festival, Toledo, OH, Spring, 2015

Message: Greetings! This notice is an initial contact inviting you and/or your organization to participate in the inaugural Automobile Film Festival in Toledo, Ohio. The festival will be held in the spring of 2015 and will feature special automobile-related events associated with the films. An academic conference, in conjunction with the festival, will also be held; this conference will address automobiles and their effect on society, especially through the medium of motion pictures. This project is a direct effort of Destination Toledo and a select group of individuals interested in the development of a special events film festival for the region. This project began solely as an academic effort and has been expanded to include the aforementioned film festival and other relevant special events to enhance the experience. The entire experience will be an exploration of cars and their influence on society. An initial feasibility study and operational plan have been developed under the direction of the academic partners involved, which include both Bowling Green State University and Northwestern Michigan College. A special non-profit organization will be formed to administer the film festival as funding is obtained. The film festival, itself, will be directed with the cooperation of Destination Toledo and the academic representatives who have developed and nurtured the idea from the beginning. The inaugural academic conference will focus on film because it is an instrumental popular medium that tends to romanticize the automobile. There is desperate need for research outlets regarding the socio-cultural and/or psychological aspects of automobiles in order to develop a body of theory. The automobile industry is significant â�� an industry that has grown around individual and societal needs and has a major effect upon our global economy. Automobiles are engrained in our shared mindset and have a profound influence on the societal and cultural elements of civilization. The primary objective of this conference is to develop a high quality/high visibility event that will encourage an interdisciplinary approach to how ideas might be explored and exchanged. An academic journal will be published from the original research presented at the conference for the benefit of scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. This journal will cover all manner of vehicles including cars, trucks, iconic makes and models, race cars, and the like. The conference will be a bridge across several academic disciplines. This bridge will help develop a more focused approach to research without the influence of the parent sciences. A new body of scholarly literature will enhance the uniqueness of the automobilesâ��/motorsportsâ�� discipline. Right now, most submissions to journals define themselves in terms of their associated parent sciences. This proposed new journal will help widen the perspective of submissions and focus specifically on newly-emerging paradigms. There is a distinct possibility that this new journal will be forced to develop academic credibility, and this may prove to be a struggle. Therefore, the emphasis will be on quality presentations that could find a home in any scholarly journal. This is a formal invitation for you and/or your organization to become involved in this project as you have information that is very important to the development of an active research community. We are looking for cooperators who might build bridges across research databases to further the understanding about automobiles and their influence on society, as well as on their importance to individuals. Your involvement is essential to the success of this project. Please submit abstracts for review and/or possible session topics. Even though the primary topic is film, other important issues will also be developed during the academic conference. If you are not interested, please share this announcement with your colleagues. If you know of a person or group that may be interested, please forward the contact to us and we will send them an invitation of their own. Many thanks for your time and attention. We look forward to hearing from you and hope you will consider getting involved with this unique and exciting opportunity. Send all correspondence to Dr. Mark Howell. Dr. Mark D. Howell Professor of Communications Northwestern Michigan College & Ferris State University SH 214 F 1701 East Front Street Traverse City, Michigan 49686(231) 995-1192 mhowell@nmc.edu Dr. David Groves Professor Emeritus Eppler North Bowling Green State University Bowling Green, Ohio 43403dgroves@bgsu.edu