Greetings everyone. It’s hard to believe that summer is half over and the 2014 Annual Meeting was two months ago. I hope everyone is having a good summer despite the weather.

In terms of numbers our meeting in San Diego was the best ever, with a total of 126 people registered. We now have104 paid members. Since the meeting Connie Cummings has designed a membership recruitment brochure which will be available to all of our members for distribution at meetings and wherever it might be helpful. It will be posted on the website soon and you can request a copy, which you can reproduce, from me.

Speaking of membership, we are implementing a new policy this year. Memberships are due for renewal no later than January 31 of each calendar year. In the past we have left it up to each individual to remember the deadline. Starting this year we will be emailing invoices to all current members early in December, thereby giving you the option of renewing in this tax year or next. We also will send bills with a different cover note to people who have belonged to SSPC in the past two years but have somehow forgotten to renew. This will make it easier for you and for us.

Plans for the Providence meeting, April 23-25, are proceeding nicely. Proposals for papers and workshops are due no later than September 15, so please check out the Call for Papers at our website, www.psychiatryandculture.org and see what you might want to contribute. You have been asking for more interactive participation at the meetings and we would like to provide it. Therefore, when you think about submitting a proposal, you might want to focus on developing a workshop instead of just giving a paper.

Please note that I will be off line from July 29 until August 7. I will try to check my email intermittently but, because I will be in the process of moving, my responses may not be timely and I will not have access to files. After August 5 my land line telephone number will be (484) 416-3915 and I no longer will have a dedicated fax number so you will need to call first if you want to send a fax. My email address will remain the same, ekramer931@gmail.com.

Best wishes to all for a pleasant and safe rest of summer.