It's a new year, and a new president. This is my first time as a president of any organization, so please be kind.

I always say that I joined the STC to learn new skills as I moved into my technical communications career. And since the learning part can never really stop, I'm still here. When I joined in Waterloo Ontario (the South-Western Ontario chapter) I had an 11 week old baby and a two-year-old monster, a husband in the throes of his PhD research, and no income. So, it was a sacrifice to pay the money - but I knew after my first meeting that I'd found a way to work with words that would keep me happy and moving forward. I also knew that I could get most of my education for my future career through the monthly meetings. Luckily, my gamble paid off, and I've been able to work for the past eight years in software companies in Canada and the UK.

I've always felt a strong commitment to personal education, and my only goal for the coming year is to enhance the opportunities that we all have as members of the STC to learn concepts and skills which will help us in our work.

It's a time of change in this profession - our responsibilities to our clients, users and companies are expanding and becoming blurred with other functions. We're facing technological changes which aren't quite solidly mapped out yet. And the sources of formal education are drying up - which also means that the next generation of technical communicators appears thin. Faced with these challenges, I'm hoping to bring new insights to our working lives through a co-operative effort from the STC UK management team. For starters, we're participating in the Region 2 conference in a big way - I'm chairing the organizing committee and David Farbey is treasurer and facilities manager. This will hopefully bring together a bunch of European, North American and Israeli STC members to talk about 'Making Cents of Making Sense: Technical Communications and Business'. We're planning discussions on the many facets of how tech com adds value and makes a difference to the bottom line of many businesses.

Alongside this, we're actually hosting an STC board meeting - so all the board members will be flying in from the US (and Bedfordshire),to spend a few days in London with us. The new Executive Director, Susan Burton, is also planning to attend, and kick things off with a breakfast meeting with business executives. The rest of the year's activities are being planned as well - another conference in Manchester in Feb/March, LIG meetings in the North, the South and Ireland, as well as the Annual General Meeting next June.

I'm so looking forward to these events, and to spending time with as many members as I can meet. I'll hopefully be able to attend most of the meetings and conferences. Schedules permitting naturally. We've got a great team in place for the coming year - and I anticipate that you'll be pleased with our activities. Scary as it may seem, my motto for this year is: Aim high.