On behalf of our Society, I would like to express our sincere condolences to Paula and family on the passing of Eric, our Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Officer and Web Master. He was a truly committed individual who put the best interests of the Society first and foremost in his tireless work in promoting and administering the IWCS. The Executive will be shortly seeking committed individuals to take on the roles previously performed by Eric. On an interim basis Patti Dickherber has taken on the role of Secretary whilst Paula Krum has the positions of Treasurer and Membership Officer and Art Lee is Web Master. Many thanks to these individuals for stepping in to keep our Society operating.
The Australasian Regional Conference was held at Aldinga Beach and Willunga, South Australia from 20 to 25 October 2025. The theme of the conference was ‘the synergy of knowledge from our collective members’ and the breadth of knowledge shared with fellow attendees certainly lived up to the theme. Peter Ball and David Munzberg are in the process of compiling a report on the conference to be published in World of Wood and Downunder.
One of the areas explored at the Conference was planning for the future. A full report on the outcomes of this planning session will be available in an upcoming issue of World of Wood, however, it is interesting to note that many of the attendees indicated that they felt the name of our Society is no longer relevant to what we do and to recruiting new members. Since the conference, one United States based Board Member, indicated he had had the same feedback from members in his region. This is an issue that will be discussed in developing a five-year plan for the Society – your opinion on this matter will be sought over the next 12 months.
I would like to thank Willem Hurkmans for his valuable service to IWCS as Chair of the Publications Committee over a protracted period. Willem has indicated that he will be stepping down from that role in 2026. Members were canvassed in August this year to ascertain who would be willing to take over on Willem’s departure. Alan Crivarello from Italy indicated that he is interested in the role. Consequently, I had pleasure in appointing Alan as an immediate member of the Publications Committee and as Chair from 1 October 2026. We look forward to supporting Alan in this role.
I have not had the opportunity to catch up on how the regional meeting in Portugal went but thanks Francisco for your efforts in organising this meeting. I was in France on a family holiday and had just committed to specific dates when I first heard of the meeting in Porto. It was disappointing that I was not able to alter my plans to accommodate the meeting. I trust everyone who attended enjoyed the event.
Jim Dominick is now our President Elect – congratulations! It was a pleasure meeting and talking to Jim at the Australasian Regional meeting in Gellibrand, Victoria, Australia last year. He expressed ideas on how to promote the Society more widely and I look forward to discussing these and hopefully implementing them at executive and board level over the next two years.
We now have all regional trustee positions filled. I understand that this is the first time that this has occurred for a number of years. Thanks to our new Trustees; with you the Society will function more smoothly…
The Executive is reviewing the operation of the Endowment Fund and will put its recommendations to the Board for consideration sometime in 2026. Chris Cook, our archivist, has done an excellent job in finding historical documents associated with the establishment of the fund some 30 to 40 years ago. This is a complex matter involving whether the fund was correctly established and registered with USA authorities together with understanding the purpose of the fund in today’s economic environment. Members will be kept informed of the current state of play by information being posted on our website and articles in World of Wood.
Just a reminder that if you want to keep up to date with what the Executive and Board are discussing you can find the minutes of our meetings in the ‘Members Only’ section of our website.
John Tillack #10303
President