As I write this on Thanksgiving Day (between third and fourth helpings), following are reasons that I am thankful this Thanksgiving:
I am thankful for Raquel Alexander's coordination of the Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. The meeting was an absolute blast. Raquel (assisted by Rich Houston) not only put together an excellent program, but also for planned the incredible champagne reception celebrating the ABO section's 25th anniversary.
I am thankful that the ABO Research Conference was such an incredible success. We had over 173 participants (breaking our previous record of 100 attendees last year in Atlanta). Credit for the success of the Conference is directly attributable to the tireless efforts of Anne Magro who planned the meeting while in transition between universities.
I want to thank Ted Mock for sharing his "secrets to success" with ABO Research Conference attendees (although maybe a little to late to benefit some of us longer in the tooth). Congratulations Ted for your well deserved recognition for all of your contributions to behavioral research.
I am thankful that, after much searching and deliberation, that we finally got a contract signed with a hotel in Philadelphia for next year's ABO Research Conference. Mark your calendars for October 19-20, 2007. Jim Bierstaker is already hard at work planning the conference. Please drop him a note (james.bierstaker@villanova.edu) if you are able to assist him in reviewing papers.
I am thankful that the section is extremely healthy from a financial perspective. Our good fortune allowed us to sponsor (waive registration fees, pay for hotel rooms) 20 doctoral students for our first doctoral consortium. Bryan Church and Anne Magro did excellent work coordinating the consortium program.
I am thankful for Deloitte's co-sponsorship of our first doctoral consortium. While we budgeted for 20 students, given the section's mission, we found it difficult to turn down any student's request to attend. Deloitte stepped forward to provide resources to allow us to accommodate the overflow as 30 doctoral students attended the consortium and then stayed for the Research Conference.
Being BRIA editor is usually a thankless task, so I want to thank Bryan Church for his efforts in turning around manuscripts so quickly. Bryan's work will increase shortly as BRIA goes to two issues in the near future.
I am continually thankful for everyone's efforts to assist the section in their own ways, whether as newsletter editor (Cynthia Blanthorne), section webmaster (Charlie Bailey), Working Paper Series Coordinator (John Rigsby), committee chair (Sileshi Sisaye, Lisa Sedor, Mike Shields) or member (too numerous to thank individually here), or regional meeting coordinator (again too numerous to thank individually here). It has become very obvious to me that the primary reason for our success as a section is our members' willingness to serve. Please let me know if you are time and interest in serving the section in your own unique way.
Lastly, you, as ABO section members, should be thankful that I am surrounded by talented officers who are able to prevent (or at least limit the damage) I am able to do during my tenure as ABO President. I want to especially thank Stacy Kovar (last year's President), Sean Peffer (next year's President), Mike Shaub (VP—Regions), and Elizabeth Almer (Secretary/Treasurer) for their very wise counsel.
I hope everyone's semester is going well and I look forward to hearing your ideas when you get a chance.
