Dear Medical Writers

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I expect I am not the only one who at this time of year looks at their calendar in disbelief and asks how on earth another 12 months can have disappeared so quickly? The end of the year is always an especially busy time, but it is an appropriate moment to recollect, to review and assess, and of course to look forward to the future.

This has been a year of important milestones for EMWA. Firstly, the organisation celebrated its 20th Anniversary and over the last 20 years has grown from a small group of enthusiasts to a fully fledged professional association with over 1000 members worldwide. Paralleling the growth of the association, the number and variety of workshops offered by EMWA has expanded from a single 3-hour session at the second conference held in Eindhoven, Netherlands in 1993, to the current impressive total of 60 different workshops offered at the spring conference in Cyprus in 2012. All of these workshops are run on an entirely voluntary basis and the ‘spare’ time dedicated by the workshop leaders year after year is a reflection of the commitment and selflessness that represent the spirit of our organisation.

The second milestone this year has been the change in the EMWA journal, which now has a new professional glossy look and a new name – Medical Writing. The credit for bringing the journal from its humble beginnings as a members’ newsletter to a publication which can easily compare with other professional journals lies largely with two individuals – Barry Drees and Elise Langdon-Neuner. In their role as Editor-in-Chief, first Barry and later Elise committed huge amounts of their time to the publication of the journal and it is only thanks to their incredible efforts that it has evolved to become the Medical Writing journal we know today. Immeasurable thanks are due to both of them for their dedication and hard work over the past years. As Phil Leventhal steps up to take on the challenge of following in their footsteps, I know he is grateful that Elise will remain in the background to support him as Emeritus Editor.

Looking forward to the coming year, the Executive Committee and Head Office are already in the middle of preparations for the next Spring conference on 7–11 May in Manchester. The format will be slightly different from that of previous conferences as, in addition to the usual workshop programme, there will be a 1-day symposium with invited guest speakers giving lectures based around the conference theme, Health Economics, Outcomes Research and Market Access.’ We hope that this will increase the educational value of the conference and appeal to medical writers and other professionals who are looking for further education and information on this very current and relevant health topic.

Next year there will also be several positions up for election on the Executive Committee – Public Relations Officer, Honorary Secretary, Treasurer, Education Officer, and Vice President. So if you are interested in participating more actively in the organisation and would like to stand as a candidate for one of these positions, please get in touch with either myself president@emwa.org, Head Office info@emwa.org, or another member of the Executive Committee. If you want to find out what the position entails then you can look up to the relevant job description on the EMWA website under ‘Contact Us’ and ‘Executive Committee.’ We look forward to hearing from many volunteers!

Finally, as the festive season approaches and the array of tempting goodies in the shops lure us to overindulge ourselves, the theme of the December issue of the journal ‘Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes’ may help us to moderate our appetites and certainly provides interesting insights into this important health issue. So on that note I would like to wish everyone a very happy, and hopefully also, healthy Christmas and a successful, productive, and prosperous New Year!

December 2012

36th EMWA Conference in Manchester (May 2013)

We are pleased to announce that the 36th EMWA Conference will be held at the Manchester Central Convention Complex, Manchester, England between 7 and 11 May 2013. The theme of the conference is Health Economics and Market Access, which will also be the subject of EMWA's very first 1-day symposium with invited speakers and expert panel members as part of the conference. As usual, EMWA's unparalleled selection of credit and non-credit workshops will be on offer, and there will be plenty of time for networking during breaks and at the evening social events. We look forward to welcoming you in Manchester!

Further information on the conference will be available on the EMWA website (emwa.org) in January 2013