Kenneth Andersen: From Then to Now

When former NCA President Kenneth Andersen joined the association, the member subscription fee was three dollars and fifty cents. He was 18 years old.

"I was a freshman in college in speech education and the professor said there's a new journal coming out from the speech association, you ought to subscribe," Andersen recalled.

He's been a member ever since, serving as most of the leadership positions NCA has to offer over the years. He went to his first convention in 1955, and now in 2008, he says the changes he has witnessed have been monumental.

"It is dramatically different. The size is just incredible," Andersen said.

Not only has the conference gotten bigger, graduate students have become more and more involved. Andersen remembers when there were only four students presenting papers. At the 2008 convention, graduate students make up more than half of the presenters.

NCA has grown over the years and Andersen has been there to watch it. While walking around the convention this year, he still holds onto memories from his first.

"My favorite memory of my first convention was when I saw the planner walking around in a coffee shop asking people what they thought about the convention. He knew most of the people in that room by first name," Andersen said.

Although blue name tags now allow us to get by without remembering, after over 50 years of NCA conventions, Andersen will always remember.