Fellow Executive Officers, Past International Presidents and Chairmen, Governors, Deputy Governors, Committee Chairs, Members and Guests.

 It has been my honor to serve as your International Chairman for the past six months.  It is hard to believe that my term is half completed, but, this also means that we have no more than six months to complete the task of conveying the importance of belonging to the IAPHC to our current, former and potential members.  We must remove the stigma of being the best kept secret in the graphic arts industry and move forward with increasing membership and providing value for the entire membership.

 This has been a turbulent time both for our industry and our association and I am convinced that if we take what we learned yesterday during the marketing session and put it into practice, we will be a much stronger and viable association for years to come.  It is up to every one of us to make sure that we follow up by logging on to David Kinard's web site within the next two weeks.  Please participate and help select the course that the IAPHC will take.  Then and only then will the IAPHC become the organization that we know it can be.

 I have been extremely fortunate to experience the "Sharing of Knowledge" during my recent travels visiting the members and clubs of the 11th District.  I was able to attend 7 club functions in two weeks while in California and thus far have traveled over 5,000 miles.  Every District and Club throughout the IAPHC has the same kind of enthusiasm and dedication and it is my goal to visit as many Districts and Clubs as possible in the remaining six months of my term in office.

 This past December it was my honor to present the 2002 Gallery of Superb Printing, "Best of Show" award to Belk Industries in Charlotte, North Carolina.  There was a feeling of enthusiasm as the Charlotte Club continues with its' reorganization.

 The International Gallery of Superb Printing is what keeps this association on the forefront.  We need to work as diligently as possible gathering entries from every corner of the world and to make sure that the Gallery is a complete success.  Gallery helps increase membership, assists in the Y'KNOW network, and brings international attention to the IAPHC.

 We also need to keep in mind that the 2003 Los Angeles International Convention will be here shortly.  The Convention Committee has worked hard to make sure all of us have an educational, inspirational and fun time.  In addition, it's a perfect time to renew old acquaintances and to start some new ones.  IAPHC conventions, in comparison to other trade organization's conventions and meetings, remain of the least expensive to attend.

 I would like to thank the other Executive Officers, Vice Chairman Bill Orr, Secretary/Treasurer Norm Belanger, Immediate Past Chairman Tom Blanchard and President/CEO Kevin Keane.  And to thank Headquarters staff, Lesley Addy and Mike Scott for their continued hard work and dedication.  It takes a total team effort to operate the IAPHC and I have the best support team anyone could ask for.