DiGRA Central and Eastern Europe (DiGRA CEE) bylaws

Statement of purpose

DiGRA CEE aims to support and develop the academic debate within game studies and related fields in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. The chapter’s main activity is to organize the annual Central and Eastern European Game Studies conference (CEEGS). By organizing the conference and providing other platforms of communication, the chapter will introduce game scholars working within national academic environments of Central and Eastern Europe to an international community and facilitate regional cooperation transcending national boundaries. An important value of the chapter is openness and affordability for students and academics from all countries of the region. The primary language of the chapter is English.

Basic terms

The chapter is managed by the Chapter Executive Board (CEB). Additionally, there is a Local Organizing Committee (LOC) and a Program Committee (PC) assigned for each installment of the conference. 

Geographical area

We understand the region in broad terms, including post-socialist countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and also Austria, Germany, Greece, and Cyprus. This geographical designation does not preclude individuals from outside of this area from joining the chapter’s events and communication channels. Participation in the chapter’s events and activities also does not intend to impinge on the ability of any individuals in this area to form or be members of other regional or national DiGRA chapters, such as the German-speaking countries DiGRA chapter or DiGRA Croatia.

Legal status

The chapter is currently not established as a legal entity separate from the DiGRA association. For administrative purposes, it is a part of DiGRA, but all its activities are managed independently by its CEB.

Membership

The chapter does not require any separate registration or membership fees to participate in its events or communication channels. For the purposes of CEB elections, all registered attendees of a given year’s CEEGS conference are eligible to vote or stand as candidates. To ensure inclusivity and fair representation, it is possible to waive registration fees for participants disadvantaged by income, political situation, and other reasons. The number of allocated waivers is contingent on conference budget and must be approved by the LOC and the CEB.

Code of conduct

DiGRA CEE adheres to the Code of Conduct and other relevant documents of DiGRA. It may implement specifications to these documents to fit the needs of the chapter and the CEEGS conference.

Management membership and elections 

The Chapter Executive Board (CEB) comprises seven members: the Chair, the Vice-Chair, the Inclusivity Officer, and four At-large Members. The CEB is the executive organ of the chapter and makes decisions about the CEEGS conference, CEEGS communication channels, and other related matters. Each position on the CEB has a 3-year term (except for the ones arising from the initial elections of 2022; and the Inclusivity Officer elected in 2023 for a 2-year term). The Chair and the Vice-Chair can only serve two consecutive terms in a given position. One person can hold either of the Chair and Vice-Chair positions for a maximum of four consecutive terms, meaning that, for example, after two terms as Chair and two terms as Vice-Chair, the same person cannot become Chair again. There are no term limits for the other positions and former Chairs and Vice-Chairs may be elected for other CEB positions after reaching their term limits. A member of the board can voluntarily resign. In that case, the position is re-elected at the next CEEGS conference.

The general assembly (GA) takes place at each annual CEEGS conference. It is a venue to discuss the current conference, the future direction of the chapter, and other concerns brought up by the membership. It is open to all registered participants and observers, although observers cannot vote in the elections. For the assembly, a minute-taker is appointed; the minutes are approved by the board for correctness and published on the DiGRA CEE website.

Elections to CEB occur during the GA at annual CEEGS conferences. New members of the CEB are elected for all positions whose terms are expiring. If no conference takes place in a given year, the terms of all board members are extended by one year.

Any registered participants of the conference are eligible to vote or stand as candidates. This includes non-paying participants whose registration fees were waived; it also includes members of the Local Organizing Committee who may be non-paying registered participants.

Elections (including the list of CEB posts that go for re-election) are announced on the designated communication channel of the conference at least four weeks before the conference so that potential candidates may decide whether they want to run. Any registered participant (including participants from outside of the geographical area of CEE) can stand as a candidate by self-nominating or being nominated by another registered member and accepting the nomination. The nominations are reported to the CEB using the official email. The last possible moment for nominations is during the General Assembly, before the start of the election. The candidates may run for only one position.

At the beginning of the elections, the standing CEB checks if there are no further nominations and whether all candidates and voting members are eligible. Then two scrutinizers are appointed one of whom counts votes and the other verifies the count. Polls for each available position proceed one by one, starting with named roles (Chair, Vice-Chair, and Inclusivity Officer), and progressing to At-large members. If there is only one uncontested candidate for a position, eligible voters can vote by show of hands. If there are more candidates for a position, each voter may vote only once for only one of the candidates for a given position using a secret ballot; the candidate with the highest vote count wins. Members who are not physically present (such as hybrid participants or participants who cannot attend the GA) can vote remotely. They must inform CEB prior to the GA or respond to a request by a board representative on the designated communication platform. Subsequently, they will receive a link to a secret ballot platform where they can vote simultaneously to the physical polling.

If a majority (four or more) of the board resign during the period between two conferences, an irregular online General Assembly is called to elect the vacant positions. The eligibility criteria for this irregular GA are the same as for the previous conference.

Procedures and responsibilities: Chapter Executive Board (CEB)

As the executive body of the chapter, the Chapter Executive Board (CEB) carries out the following tasks:

Organizes CEB elections

Issues the call for conference hosts for the upcoming CEEGS conference(s)

Reviews the applications for conference hosts

Based on the review of the applications, the CEB appoints the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) for a given installment of CEEGS conference and approves the date and location of the conference. In a given calendar year, it may only make a decision about a conference planned for the same or following calendar year.

Consults and approves the Call for papers for the CEEGS conference, primarily written by the Local Organizing Committee (LOC)

Appoints the Program Chair for each given installment of the conference. The position of Program Chair is compatible with membership in the CEB.

Reviews and approves the LOC’s CEEGS Preliminary Program Outline, which contains the duration of the conference, the total number of sessions, and suggested invited speakers.

Reviews and approves the Budget and Social Program Proposal of the CEEGS conference.

Reviews and approves the final program of the conference

Manages the communication channels of the chapter. The board also makes decisions about which channels will be used, taking into account the preferences of CEEGS participants.

CEB may organize or offer the chapter’s patronage to other events.

In carrying out these responsibilities, the CEB ideally decides by consensus of all members. If a consensus cannot be reached, a majority of all members decides.

The division of labor and practical responsibilities between individual members is to be decided by the current CEB, taking into consideration common-sense meanings of the individual named positions. At-large members can receive specific responsibilities given that they accept them and that the whole CEB approves this.

The Inclusivity Officer safeguards inclusivity of all chapter activities and structures, requesting and suggesting corrective measures if genders, nationalities, career stages, or other relevant criteria are not properly and equally included or represented.

Local Organizing Committee (LOC)

The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) is responsible for the organization of the specific installment of the annual CEEGS conference, including registration, website, location, and catering. The conference must be organized in accordance with the CEEGS conference guidelines (available as a separate document). The LOC is also responsible for the promotion of the conference, including the distribution of the call for papers to relevant outlets. The internal structure of the LOC is determined by its chair. The CEB Board communicates with the chair of the LOC or with a designated secretary. Prior to the conference call, the LOC provides a Preliminary Program Outline, which includes the duration of the conference, the total number of sessions, and suggested invited speakers. In a reasonable timeframe before the conference, the LOC provides the Budget and Social Program Proposal for the conference. Both of these have to be approved by the CEB.

Program Committee (PC)

The Program Committee is responsible for the selection of peer-reviewed papers that will be presented at the annual CEEGS conference. The committee may also be consulted by the LOC and the CEB regarding conference keynotes. The PC consists of the Program Chair and PC members. Program Committee members serve as reviewers. Some of the PC members may be appointed by the PC as “section chairs” and take responsibility for thematic subsections of submissions.

PC members are appointed by the Program Chair. The Program Chair is responsible for the administration of the review system and for appointing reviewers to abstracts. They produce a list of submissions sorted by their review scores. The decision about which papers will be accepted depends on the number of available slots provided by the LOC. The final list of accepted papers has to be approved by the CEB, but the CEB cannot interfere in the review process. 

Members of CEB can also be members of the PC. If they are, their individual responsibilities as anonymous reviewers do not count as interference in the review process. PC members, as well as CEB members, may submit papers to the conference, but they must neither review nor assign reviewers to their own papers. The Program Chair cannot submit abstracts to the main conference program but they can appear in other parts of program, including workshops.