Bangor and its excellent scientific meeting, not to mention the stunning environment and wonderful weather, seems far away now and I have had the chance to settle into the role of President when I succeeded Professor Chris Phillipson. As Past President, Chris remains an invaluable asset to the Society in his role as principal liaison with the British Council for Ageing (BCA) comprising the British Geriatric Society, the British Society of Gerontology and the British Society for Research into Ageing. The launch of the BCA at the House of Lords in October was an excellent event and all three societies trumpeted optimistic notes for its future as an organisation that can speak at national level for the learned societies concerned with the various aspects of old age and the ageing process.

Professor Judith Phillips as President Elect and I have arrived at a time of enormous change for the Society, the biggest being our foray into the great information highway on the web for the delivery of Generations Review. In many ways it has been sad parting with the hard copy and there is no doubt that the general appearance and high quality content wrought by Professor Sarah Harper, Dr George Leeson and the Oxford team brought about a great improvement in the house journal. A three year contract was agreed and extra funds were allocated from the BSG account. Sadly, the extra work and costs involved with this substantial change did not fulfil the two principal aims behind the change: an increase in BSG membership numbers and revenue from advertising. This meant that in its printed form, Generations Review is unsustainable, and with much regret and gnashing of teeth, the Executive Committee and the members at the AGM decided to cease hard copy publication of the house journal. It goes without saying that my personal, and the Executive Committee's thanks are to Sarah, George and the team for lifting the journal to another level.

However, what the move has facilitated, is a much more flexible, accessible and interactive means of communication with the membership, the vast majority of whom have internet connection and have agreed to accept GR on-line. I know this is the beginning of an another exciting and innovative period in our history and thanks go to the University of Reading team who have taken over, pushing, we hope, on an open door.

Additionally, the reconstructed web site has brought us into the 21st century with our membership renewal, which ultimately will be entirely electronic, and enabled us to engage the services of the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) for the renewal process. It also means a saving to those who choose to pay by credit card and an opportunity to pay by direct debit. CAF is offers a cost effective service for us, and we hope this is the beginning of a long and fruitful association.

We are aware that these two dramatic changes will inevitably cause some initial confusion, but in the long run will benefit the society hugely.

Ageing and Society (ASO), under the editorship of Professor Tony Warnes has gone from strength to strength, and he reports that the standard of submissions has improved considerably over the last couple of years. It is planned that the number of issues will increase to eight a year in 2008. This brings me to another potential change for BSG. I have thought for some time that it would be beneficial for the society to have a peer reviewed journal as part of the membership subscription, similar to the British Sociological Association and the Social Policy Association. Now that we have on-line GR, it may be time to revisit this idea. Economy of scale means that Cambridge University Press (CUP) can offer the journal to BSG at a lower rate than currently agreed and it may be possible to absorb some of the cost into the current membership subscription. However, the increase in the number of issues means there will need to be an increase in the subscription overall, and it will be greater than normal 'indexing'. Approximately half the membership opt to take ASO at the moment. For these members it would mean a decrease in their annual payment (currently membership fee + £29) but the remaining half would face an increase. I would be very interested to hear your opinion and reaction to this prospect and urge you to contact website@britishgerontology.org with your comments which will be fed back to me and the Executive Committee.

Something we have not been particularly good at in the past is setting up a forum for career advancement and job possibilities. I was amazed at the American Sociological Association (ASA) meeting in Montreal last August, and the Gerontological Society of America (GSA) in Dallas in November, how much time and energy was invested in advertising and recruitment of academics, not only 'emerging scholars', but for those more senior academics who want/need change for personal or promotional reasons. I am aware that the britishgerontology e-mail list has been a useful method of disseminating appointments information, but the web site now gives us the opportunity to extend this service to a dedicated area, and not just for postgraduates.

And talking of GSA, it would be marvellous to extend our presence and influence at this prestigious annual conference. Professor Mary Gilhooly usually held an informal reception at GSA, but last year, for the first time, the BSG hosted a formal reception advertised in the programme in Dallas and attended by over 60 delegates. Feedback tells me it was much appreciated by the attending BSG members and other invited guests. This event put us on the reception 'circuit' (which attracts cruisers as well as invitees), and importantly raises the profile of BSG. CUP expressed an interest in sponsoring a formal reception at GSA, and perhaps next time we can offer more than peanuts and pretzels for nibbles. So, the next meeting is in San Francisco, 16-20 November www.geron.org . We plan not only to have another reception but to arrange a joint USA/UK seminar and we'll be keeping you in touch with our progress on this.

So, 2007 bodes well following the upheaval of 2006, and I am optimistic that we have taken the right direction.

I hope to see many of you in St Petersburg in July (don't forget your mosquito repellent). I hope you haven't missed the early bird deadline which was 31 December 2006, rather puzzlingly a month before the abstract submission deadline of 1 February 2007.

Until then, I speak on behalf of the whole Executive Committee in wishing you a great start to the New Year, and health and happiness throughout.

Kate