WFAE President's Report: by Nigel Frayne

Hello again! Following conversations and meetings at our October conference in Corfu it became apparent that we needed to alleviate the pressures on Hill Kobayashi as Chair of the WFAE. Since the disasters in Japan and especially around Fukushima, Hill has had a lot on his plate both in terms of pursuing a professional career as well as in his personal life. Succession is a perennial problem for small organisations and so we have initiated the structure as per our by-laws where a vice president is nominated with a view to moving into the president's chair on a more rotational basis. To that end the Board has accepted the nomination of myself as president and Eric Leonardson (currently ASAE president) as vice-president through July 2012 after which time I will hand over the presidency to Eric. Gary Ferrington continues as WFAE Secretary and I will formally act as WFAE Treasurer. Following that transition we will then be seeking nominations for the next vice-president and begin a process of regeneration with new people and energies.

The WFAE is now a legally constituted organisation in the state of Illinois, USA. This was necessary in order to open new bank accounts and thereby finally alleviate Peter Grant and Hildegard Westerkamp of the work of managing WFAE cash flows out of Vancouver. Peter has been an invisible force over many years both in terms of accepting and banking cheques as well as keeping financial records on our behalf. I want to sincerely thank Peter for these years of commitment and assistance despite wishing to relinquish the tasks back in 2005! Finally we have moved on so thank you Peter.

A quick word on the Corfu conference. What a wonderful job Ioanna, Andreas and all the volunteers did in making us feel welcome and organising such a great event. As everyone will be aware Greece is under many pressures and it was amazing how we were sheltered from these problems by the spirited and congenial people working for us in the background. We were treated to some high quality presentations and enjoyed a variety of sessions, workshops and round table discussions. Now we look forward to the next international conference in Darmstadt, Germany in July 2012. More information on this WFAE Endorsed event will be forthcoming.

So, to return to Hill Kobayshi, I would like to say thank you for his dedication and good natured work over the past 12 or so months. The WFAE Board wishes you well for your future career and hope that you will continue to involve yourself in our organisation as time allows.

And to all our members throughout the world I say, thank you for your continued interest and support of the WFAE and best wishes for your endeavours for the coming year, 2012 is upon us! (Photo: Sabine Breitsameter)