Volume 11, Number 2, May 1989, p.1

President's Letter

This is an exciting time for WAAC as we begin preparations for this year's meeting. Our recent poll confirmed the members' interest in a meeting in Honolulu. Over eighty people said they intended to register, so we are looking forward to a strong showing. As you will note on the enclosed information sheet, the meeting will take place Oct. 5-7 at the Honolulu Academy of Art, which is generously donating meeting space. The Bishop Museum will be the co-host of an opening night event which will include traditional hula performed by men as well as women. If you haven't seen this yet, you are in for a special treat. We are also working on a conference program which should be as memorable as the dancing.

Please note that airfare/hotel package deals make the cost of attending the meeting quite affordable. For example, you can get round trip airfare (from San Francisco or Los Angeles) and a week in a hotel for as little as $389. October is a delightful and popular time to visit Hawaii, so you are encouraged to make reservations as soon as possible to secure desirable rates and schedules.

I am pleased to announce that we will be joined in Honolulu by two conservation students from Mexico. The Friends of Mexico Foundation has agreed to set up a program to fund the attendance of selected Mexican conservation students at our annual meeting. Many conservators in the WAAC region are aware of numerous projects and issues in conservation throughout Mexico so we are very encouraged and excited about this venture and its potential to continually enrich the exchange of ideas. The attendance of Mexican conservators at our annual meeting rounds out the western regional nature of our organization and I hope you will join me in welcoming them to our group. Thanks are due to board member Jerry Podany and member Miguel Angel Corzo for putting together this great plan.

We continue to receive compliments from conservators across the country about the quality of our Newsletter. Remember that editor Chris Stavroudis relies on your submissions, which can be articles, meeting notices, short technical notes, or simply contributions to the Regional News column. We are pleased to have the excellent "10 Year Cumulative Index" recently compiled by Pauline Mohr. Her generous service to the group is greatly appreciated.

Thank you to those of you who replied to the questionnaire about the Resource File. I am happy to report that the new and updated file should be available by annual meeting time. The resource file has always been a valuable reference, but the new version will be even more complete thanks to sources added by Michael Jaffe and Jackie Zak of the Getty Conservation Information Network. The updated file has come about through the efforts of Michael, Jackie, Zora Pinney, Tatyana Thompson, and Chris Stavroudis.

Please register for the annual meeting as soon as possible to facilitate planning. I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible in Honolulu!