Reflections and epiphanies: papers from the plenary session of the 2001 Association for Business Communication Convention. (Forum).

The Association for Business Communication is a community of scholars-researchers, teachers, and practitioners-engaged in dialogue that aims to foster excellence in business communication. Nowhere is this dialogue more fully realized than in our annual forum honoring the winners of ABC's two most prestigious awards: the Outstanding Researcher Award and the Meada Gibbs Outstanding Teacher Award.

The Outstanding Researcher Award is given each year to an ABC member who has a long and distinguished history of research and publication--and who has made a significant impact on the field of business communication. This year's winner, Jone Rymer, is notable not only for her own research and publication but also for her service as chair of ABC's Publications Board. In this capacity, she has mentored and co-mentored many ABC colleagues and strengthened the entire ABC research community.

The Meada Gibbs Outstanding Teacher Award is named for one of our most beloved colleagues, who was on the path to becoming ABC president when she died tragically in an automobile accident, leaving behind her a legacy of outstanding teaching that serves as a model for us all. This year's winner, Jenny Gilsdorf, is a past president of ABC who exemplifies the scholarship of teaching in her ability to learn from her students and to share what she learns with her ABC colleagues, through presentation and publication.

Jone and Jenny came together this fall in a plenary session that opened ABC's annual convention in La Jolla. In that forum, they took the opportunity to reflect on their experiences as researchers and teachers. Gail Fann Thomas served as responder, taking on the challenge of highlighting the synergy that connects their ideas.

It is significant and deliberate that ABC begins its annual convention with this forum honoring our outstanding researcher and outstanding teacher rather than with a keynote address from an outside speaker. Our goal is to initiate a conversation that will ripple through the convention and then outward, by journal publication, to all members of the ABC community.

If you attended the 2001 Convention in La Jolla, you may have participated in this conversation in our opening session. If not, we invite you to join it now by reading the print version of Jone's, Jenny's and Gail's talks--and by sharing your thoughts with your ABC colleagues at home and, next November, at the our convention in Cincinnati, where a new dialogue will begin.

Barbara Shwom (Ph.D. Northwestern University, 1984) is a College Lecturer for the Writing Program in the College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University and the Northwestern McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, and an adjunct faculty member of the Kellogg School of Management. Dr. Shwom is also a partner of Shwom & Hirsch Management Communication Consultants, and is President for The Association of Business Communication. Correspondence should be addressed to Barbara Shwom, Northwestern University, Writing Program, 1902 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60201; e-mail: bshwom@northwestern.edu