Letter from the President

Dear ASN Member,

Your ASN Officers and ASN Council have been busy since the Newport Beach, California meeting. New initiatives are underway in a number of areas. For the first time, an ASN Council meeting was held in conjunction with the Society for Neuroscience meeting in New Orleans. At that meeting, a number of significant items were passed by council, including:

• Establishment of the time and venue for the next three ASN meetings:
  
  • 2004 - August 14-18, New York City, NY. Program Chair, Bob Ledeen; Local Host Chair, Bob Gould
  • 2005 - June 24-29, Madison, WI. Program Chair, Douglas Feinstein; Local Host Chair, Ian Duncan
  • 2006 - March 11-16, Portland, OR. Program Chair, Monica Carson; Local Host Chair, TBA
  • 2007 - August 19-25, Joint meeting with ISN, Cancun, Mexico, Program Chair, TBA, Local Host Chair, Richard Tapia.

• Establishment of new Offices of Secretary Elect and Treasurer Elect:
  This requires a change to the by-laws, and our secretary soon will be soliciting your vote on this issue. These new offices will ensure an orderly transition for the Offices of Secretary and Treasurer from one period to the next.
• Expansion of the responsibilities of the Public Policy and Education Committee to include Publicity:
  Monica Carson has been named Chair of this committee and is pursuing new avenues to aggressively advertise our future meetings.
• In conjunction with the ISN and at the suggestion of Doug Feinstein, ASN sponsored a very successful hospitality suite at the Society for Neuroscience meeting. On the two nights that the hospitality suite was open, there were over 120 visitors, most of them had never attended one of our meetings and were not members of the Society. This is exactly the target audience for the hospitality suite. I have written letters to all those non-members who attended the hospitality suite and encouraged them to attend our meeting and join the Society.
• New members have been appointed to ASN committees with established terms. Previously, terms for Committees have not been stated, and new members were not being assimilated into these committees. We now have asked, on the dues notice, for membership participation on Committees. All ASN members who contacted me concerning serving on committees have been assigned to committees. Having terms in which half of the Committee turns over every two years will allow for continuity in the Committee function, while at the same time insuring that new members are added to the Committee every two years.
• Established a new committee, "Committee to Strengthen the ASN," to replace the previous Task Force Committee. Pam Knapp has been appointed Chair of this Committee. This Committee has already met in conjunction with the SFN meeting in New Orleans and is making great progress on new ideas that will enhance the image of our Society, strengthen the membership, and foster creative new ideas for the Society and how to improve our annual meetings.

This marks the first time that we have established future meeting sites and Program Chairs for the next three years. Establishing future meetings and Program Chairs was one of my priorities as President. I am pleased that Council has taken action on this important item. Having our meetings planned this far in advance has several advantages. First, we can obtain better rates for our venues. Secondly, it gives adequate time for Program Chairs to critically think about programs and line up appropriate speakers for symposia and plenary lecturers. Third, it will allow the maximum time to publicize the meeting.

I am encouraged by the progress we have made during this term, and I would like to emphasize that every member of the ASN is important to the functioning of the Society. Your input concerning any matters that are pertinent to the Society is ver welcome.

I look forward to seeing all of you at New York City; the Program Committee has organized a great program and a number of new initiatives will be instituted at this meeting:

• Pre-meeting workshop on siRNA technique (August 14, 2004)
• Luncheons will be held in which the membership can interact with the speakers.
• Establishment of a "Schmooze room" where members can interact with other members while enjoying the beverage of their choice. In the previous survey, having both the time and place for members to interact with each other, establish collaborations and exchange data was viewed as one of the most important aspects of the meeting. Having a room in which this can take place for the duration of the meeting, I believe, will enhance this process.
• A less compressed program compared with previous meetings, giving adequate time for lunches and informal interactions.
• A significant number of oral sessions to provide an opportunity for more members to present their work orally. There will be a choice on the submitted abstract as to preference for an oral or poster presentation; we will honor this choice as much as possible.

I trust that you are as excited as I am about the changes that are being implemented in the ASN to enhance the image and ensure the viability of our Society. I welcome continued input from all of you via email, phone, or regular mail. Please visit our website for updates on the meetings (ASNeurochem.org). See you soon in New York City!!

Sincerely,
George H. DeVries, PhD
ASN President