SEPTEMBER 2007
VITALITY AND PRIORITIES
by Hans TenDam
What has stayed with me from the Second Summer School of EARTh in Istanbul, was its sheer vitality. There is something about truly international encounters that national conferences and national workshops lack. Everything was vital, even our misunderstandings and our confusion at times. We went home, full of plans, full with ideas, full of energy. I met the other Board members, both the old and the new ones, and we talked and discussed and compared ideas and possibilities and desires and ambitions. I started to call them my board. And even if I left a meeting tired, late at night, I sensed the vitality of my colleagues, of myself, of our field.
We are not just an association and a board, we are a movement. We seem to be on a wave. And now we are home, and the wave is not subsiding.
We are plann
ing the next Summer School – and we are bringing our own house in order. My priorities are to incorporate the association, to get the bylaws and committees and procedures crystal clear and in good working order. I want to help build a house that can accommodate growth and complexity: schools and national associations and colleagues from outside Europe. For the moment, strong foundations and than quality assurance are on the top of my list.
As a president, I can no longer be a honorary member, so I relinquish that honor here and now. I also have withdrawn from the European Academy. Marion Boon will there continue to represent Tasso Institute. Finally, you cannot expect me to continue to do special training programs before or after the Summer School. A president should not use the association to market his own wares. I will have enough opportunities outside EARTh.
You may expect pretty soon our plan and our budget for the business year 2007-2008. Meanwhile, I wish you many happy clients. Keep up the good work!
(And may Tulin organize our summer schools forever and ever!)
Hans TenDam
