The ExCo held its mid-term meeting on July 2-3, 2007 in Vienna, Austria. The Past President, Walter Kropatsch graciously offered to host the meeting at the PRIP center in Vienna. Many topics were on the agenda of the ExCo for the meeting, and a brief overview of the different issues that were discussed in Vienna is given in this column.

 

First, the ExCo has reviewed the current status of the IAPR and the future actions that are planned for the next year. A major action will be the opening of the new website that will be put in service as soon as possible once last details on the design and contents are settled. The website, in addition of being visually more appealing, will be easier to manage and will gradually offer more services to the IAPR community.

 

Secondly, TC Chairs and Standing Committee Chairs were asked to submit a status report to the ExCo with respect to the activities that have taken place since the last GB meeting and on the plans for the next year. Overall, a majority of TCs have been active and many are planning to maintain this level of activity in the year to come. It is relevant to note that many TCs have significantly increased the offer of Web-based services to their members and that some TCs have started to include a significant amount of educational content on their Websites. This is perfectly in line with IAPR’s current plan of using the Web to increase the level of activities in its TCs. The standing committees have also been active and have started to address the different topics that were discussed at the last GB meeting in Hong Kong.

 

It is our pleasure to inform the community that, following the result of the GB ballot on this question, the Asociación Chilena De Reconocimiento De Patrones (ACHIRP) has been admitted in the IAPR. Dr. H. Allende Olivares from ACHIRP is finalizing the admission process in cooperation with Ms. Linda O’Gorman  IAPR Secretariat and Dr. Michal Haindl Chair of the Membership Committee.

 

The GB ballot on the Statement of Ethics that was prepared by the members of the Advisory Committee has been initiated by the IAPR Secretary. The result of the ballot could not be disclosed to the IAPR Community because quorum was not reached for the ballot. The ballot will be initiated again in the fall of 2007 which seems a more appropriate period for initiating a ballot. The ballot will be joined with other ballots on different topics that need to be approved by the GB. These topics will be described in detail in the near future.

 

Ms. Linda O’Gorman has been collecting membership lists/counts and preparing annual dues invoices for IAPR member societies. Please note that according to the Constitution and Bylaws, a member society whose dues have not been paid by the first day in May in the year following that in which the dues are invoiced will lose all voting privileges and its membership will be cancelled at the next Governing Board. It would be greatly appreciated that the dues be paid rapidly in order to avoid delays that generate extra work for the Secretariat. The invoicing process is a very time consuming activity and the ExCo greatly appreciate Linda’s efforts in leading the process and the Member Societies’ treasurers efforts to be responsive to her requests for dues.