{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang1033{\fonttbl{\f0\fswiss\fcharset0 Tahoma;}} {\*\generator Msftedit 5.41.15.1507;}\viewkind4\uc1\pard\qc\f0\fs22 AIS EDITOR'S REPORT, SPRING 2006\par \pard\qj\par \par I am very sorry to be unable to attend this year's Spring Board Meeting, and I am even more disappointed at not being able to attend National and visit the gardens of so many good friends in the Saint Louis area. When I accepted the responsibility that requires me to be out of town, I did not realize that it would be in conflict with the AIS Convention.\par \par I also have to say that when I realized there was a scheduling conflict, I almost backed out of my other responsibility, simply because it is very uncomfortable to know that one's character and performance may be attacked in one's absence, when one is unable to defend oneself! Such was my experience on the only previous occasion when I missed a Board Meeting, and I hope and pray that I will not be subject to similar treatment on this occasion.\par \par Our change of mailing services for the April issue of the \i Bulletin\i0 was a great success; in fact, I think we received the very best time service we have \i ever\i0 gotten, which in part must be coincidence. Members in most parts of Europe, Australia, and New Zealand received their April issue \i before\i0 they received their January issue! Many of our US members received their April issue on April 1st, and most copies arrived in the first week of April. The only area from which I've received reports of slow service was around Santa Rosa, CA.\par \par I am sorry to announce that Dr. Don Spoon is unable to continue as Scientific Editor, due to professional responsibilities and research which will demand additional amounts of his time.\par \par I am pleased to announce that Anna & David Cadd and Clarence Mahan have agreed to come on board as International Co-Editors, with the Cadds starting immediately, and Clarence becoming active early in 2006. I have also discussed with R. Dennis Hager the possibility of his becoming our Scientific Editor; this remains in the discussion stage.\par \par I would very much like to institute the position of Obituary Editor (possibly with a more pleasant title), to procure and edit obituaries. I particularly hope that Jim Morris might consider this position, but I have not discussed it with him yet because I didn't want to make any demands on his time before he has completed his responsibilities with this year's Convention. However, he has the requisite editorial abilities, along with a respect for the importance of the \i Bulletin\i0 as a repository for our Society's history, so I hope that we may be able to persuade him to take this job at some point in the not-too-distant future.\par \par I realize that there may be some discussion of the \i Bulletin\i0 at the Board Meeting, but I hope that no substantive changes will be made without consulting me. The concept of moving to a new printer has been mentioned, and I would not support such a move at this time, for three reasons: 1. Bridgetown (our current printer) is a known quantity, and they have done a very good job for us; 2. Our present rate is based on the understanding that they would print all four of our 2005 issues, so it would not be completely ethical for us to withdraw from this agreement at present without cause; and 3. I feel that competitive bids are a case of "apples and oranges" --- for instance, I feel that there is pressure to consider the printer who is currently producing the \i Medianite\i0 and the \i SJI Review\i0 , both of which are very fine publications due to the work of their Editor, but neither of which is a "finished" journal which compares to the \i Bulletin\i0 in terms of print, paper quality, or binding. I am not absolutely opposed to any decision that the Board may make, but I will again say that I think it would be a mistake to change printers at this time.\par \par I do, however, support the idea of elimination of the full Board Meeting Minutes from the \i Bulletin\i0 . This will make more work for me (!), but I think the general readership will not miss having the Minutes in full, and I think the removal of the Minutes will particularly improve the January issue, where there is so much required material that there is little space for articles.\par \par In dealing with improvement of the January issue, I would also make the additional suggestion that the Exhibition Reports (not including the Fall Show Report or the Nelson Medal results) be moved to the October issue, with the short Nelson Report and the Fall Show Report to remain in January.\par \par There has been some discussion of the fact that we currently devote an entire page to the required "Statement of Ownership" which appears in the January issue. At present, we have no way to scan in the document in a different format. An alternative that \i might\i0 take up less space is if the AIS Secretary would be interested in typing out all the information from scratch, and then we would have some leeway to condense it down to a smaller font, but there are limits to how small we can go.\par \par I have to say frankly that the job of AIS Editor is really a position that demands at least 20 hours/week, with much, much longer hours in the week or two before an issue goes to the printer. I'm not sure I really knew what I was getting into when I took this position, because Terry Aitken, my predecessor, takes everything in stride and made his (and Barbara's!) hard work look relatively effortless. This is a job which requires time and diplomacy almost every day, and yet it seems impossible to please everyone\'85 in fact, it often seems impossible to please anyone. However, I'm happy to say that the comments I receive are generally positive, and I know that I make an honest attempt to continue introducing new and interesting material without losing some of the tried and true content that members expect. \par \par Wishing you all wonderful weather and beautiful bloom in Saint Louis!\par \par Bruce Filardi\par AIS Editor\par }