In April 1999, Dr. James David Mason succeeded Pam Gennusa as President of the International SGML/XML Users' Group (ISUG). Dr. Mason (SAIC, for Lockheed Martin Energy Systems) also serves as Chairman of ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 (Document Description and Processing Languages), and is maintainer of the ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 Web Service at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The election of a new president followed an ISUG 'Extraordinary General Meeting' on Wednesday, 18-November-1998, in which plans were made to reorganize the ISUG Executive Council and to seek a replacement for retiring President, Pam Gennusa. Pam Gennusa served as ISUG President from 1990 through early 1999.
ISUG will soon have a new office address. Provisionally, the ISUG contact address is:
International SGML/XML Users' Group
Dr. James David Mason
2115 Terrace Ave., S.W.
Knoxville, TN 37916 USA
+1 423 574 6973, mxm@ornl.gov (office)
+1 423 523 2577, masonjd@icx.net (home)
[Some details concerning the changes in ISUG leadership and the balloting process are included in Pam Gennusa's "President's Report" from InterChange: The Newsletter of the International SGML/XML Users' Group Volume 5, Number 2 (April 1999).]
Although a bit later than originally planned, I now write my last report as the President of the ISUG. I am pleased to announce that the election balloting period was successfully completed and the ballots counted by our Election Officer, Martin Bryan. Eighty ballots were received (a return of just over 7% of the membership) and James Mason has been unanimously elected to the position of President. Congratulations, Jim!
James will officially take over the Group at the 1999 AGM in Granada, Spain. And, I anticipate that 3 months from now you will be reading his first report. We also balloted an amendment to our Constitution. We received 77 responses. Of these 72 were 'Yes' votes and 5 were 'Yes with comments'. Four respondents commented on an editing error in the form. The fifth respondent commented that, in the event of an appointment of an Interim President, that person should be a member of the Group. After consultation, we accepted that comment, noting that the Interim President should be chosen from the Executive Council , thus ensuring membership and continuity. The revised Constitution is printed in full in this issue of InterChange.
We have also received quite a few forms from consultants willing to answer technical questions posed to the Group. We appreciate this response and shall hopefully put you all to good use!
Leaving this office has prompted a bit of reflection on the past nine years. I am very pleased to have been a part of the growth of the Group. I am especially proud to have been part of the move to greater emphasis on regional chapters. The role of the ISUG is important - information dissemination, advocacy and, most importantly, support for the creation and development of regional chapters where the real work of serving the user takes place.
As briefly mentioned in my 1999 AGM report, there are many people to thank. The first person is Joan Smith. Joan started the Group and led it admirably from its start until 1990 when she was needed to jumpstart a user base for CALS in the UK. I remember the fateful day she called me; it was one of my last days at Datalogics before moving to the UK. I was overwhelmed by her faith in me. Once Datalogics before moving to the UK. I was overwhelmed by her faith in me. Once in the role, I received much support from the officers over the years.
Most notable is Richard Light, our Treasurer. He has always been a terrific source of good counsel as well as a super treasurer. Richard was the person with so many of the ideas that have helped to improve the Group, including the move to a more 'up-market' newsletter. Charles Goldfarb, our Honorary Technical Consultant, has, since the beginning, given me strong support and counsel. He has led our delegation to ISO for many years now, for which I am also grateful.
Our other delegation members have also always been a credit to the Group. In particular, I would like to thank Martin Bryan, who has often supplied the write-up of the ISO meetings for the Newsletter. Over the years, the ISUG has had three wonderful administrators. Our first administrator was Gaynor West, whose untimely death in 1995 shocked us all. Kirsten Wheatley took over for Gaynor and served as the administrator until Yvonne Vine joined us in 1998. They have all cared greatly about the Group and the membership, and I'm grateful for all their support. Eamonn Neylon's vision and talent has reinvented our flagship benefit, interChange and I thank him for his dedication to the role of Editor. Thanks also to Marilyn Chick who served as Production Editor for the past 3 years. Many thanks also go to Robin Cover who developed and continues to maintain our Website. Also with regard to the Website, my thanks to TechnoTeacher for hosting the site and to Peter Newcomb for his technical support. Lastly, my heartfelt thanks to all of the members and Chapter Chairs. Getting the opportunity to speak at the various chapter meetings has meant a lot to me, as it gave me the chance to meet so many members.
I leave knowing that the Group is in good hands and I offer James Mason my best wishes for his tenure.
- Pam Gennusa
Contact Robin Cover with corrections and updates, or to submit contributions to the ISUG online document database.
