As my 1-year term as the EMWA president is ending, I would like to say that it has been a great year! Manchester and Barcelona were incredible successes. The Executive Committee is working hard to improve all aspects of the EMWA, and, thanks to the excellent partnership with Kingston Smith Association Management (EMWA's Head Office), we have mostly exceeded the more optimistic plans. My work has been greatly simplified because everyone has worked together and had a lot of fun.

There have been many positives this year:

Furthermore, the EMWA has started partnering consistently with local professional organisations from several countries and with software providers, and the number of professional partners supporting the EMWA has continuously increased.

Looking forward to the Budapest conference in May

Looking forward to the Budapest conference in May, the programme includes a full day's symposium on the new European Medical Agency (EMA) Transparency Act. The symposium will include plenary sessions led by international experts. These will provide insight into the effects of the Transparency Act on medical writing from industry, regulatory, and other points of view. The EMA, who sent members to an EMWA conference for the first time in November (Barcelona) have confirmed that they will again participate: An EMA Transparency Act expert will attend the meeting in Budapest, ensuring that they will play an important role in the discussions. The symposium will include panel discussions and plenty of opportunities to ask questions and interact with the speakers.

Of course, in addition to the symposium, EMWA will be offering over 50 workshops covering a wide range of medical writing topics, as well as lots of interesting and entertaining social events. The full programme can be accessed at http://www.emwa.org. Do not miss this opportunity to visit wonderful Budapest and to network with professional colleagues. Early registration for the conference is strongly suggested, as the popular workshops tend to fill up very quickly!

Interested in joining EMWA's Executive Committee?

Just a final reminder for any member who would like to join the Executive Committee: Check out the job descriptions at http://www.emwa.org/EMWA-Officers.html. Online voting for Executive Committee positions will be before the May conference. We look forward to your vote. Furthermore, if you are interested, be sure to submit your candidature soon.

Ciao

Andrea