The theme for this year’s TESOL Arabia’s 18th International Conference was “Achieving Excellence Through Life Skills Education.” We offered both preconference and in-conference professional development courses including “Online Learning in TESOL,” “Personalized Professional Development,” and “Achieving Excellence Through Life Skills Education.” We also offered a “Young Learners’ Certificate Course” and “Teaching and Learning Through the Arts.”

The plenary speakers for this year’s conference included Andy Curtis (Canada), Dave Allan (UK), Jane Revell (UK), Jeremy Harmer (UK), Jim Schrivener (UK), Joe McVeigh (USA), Keith Folse (USA), Rod Bolitho (UK), and our own Christine Coombe (UAE), past TESOL president. Conference cochairs Beth Wiens and Christine Coombe and the 2012 TACon Committee put together an outstanding conference. It was attended by approximately 1,600 delegates, with 25 Job Fair recruiters, 262 Job Fair candidates, and 32 exhibitors. Over the 3-day period of 8-10 March 2012, there were approximately 150 concurrent sessions and 8 plenary speeches.

Beyond the conference, Ruth Glasgow and Paul De Jong have been hard at work this past year continuing the significant work the TA Book Drive has been doing over the past few years. In March of this year, with the help of Dr. Al Jumaily, the cultural counselor of the Iraqi Embassy in Abu Dhabi, the book drive shipped over 620 boxes of books to organizations in need in Baghdad. At the conference, Paul, Ruth, and their crew collected more than 1,000 books and also have recently received a very large donation from the Zayed University Dubai Campus and the Higher Colleges of Technology Central Services. They are busy at work organizing and preparing the books for distribution.

Sufian Abu-Rmaileh, our past past president and current executive treasurer, has been very busy as our liaison with the 3rd Annual TESOL Arabia, TESOL International, and Franklin Publisher SpellEvent, which was held 21 April 2012 at United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain. The SpellEvent is an international competition for nonnative speakers of English under the age of 15. Organized by TESOL International and Franklin International Publishers, this year’s event was highly successful, involving 11 schools, 18 teachers, and 63 participating registrants with four talented finalists walking away with a variety of well-deserved awards.

Our current active chapters, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, and the Eastern Region (Fujairah), have organized close to 20 events in the past year, with topics ranging from educational technology to business English. The coordination between chapters and special interest groups (SIGs) is fluid and many of these events were joint ventures. Not to be outdone, our active SIGs have held over 20 events this year, many in conjunction with a host of secondary and tertiary institutions across the UAE. The quality and diversity of these events along with overall attendance has been impressive.

We also have new people stepping up to the plate. David Mulvihill, of Zayed University, has not only moved into the position of acting executive secretary with grace, poise, and a surgical approach as our documentarian, but was also there to fill many of the administrative gaps at TACon 2012. Likewise, Sally McQuinn, who has been instrumental in jumpstarting the Eastern Region (Fujairah) Chapter, building membership and facilitating five events this year, organized and coordinated volunteers from her chapter during the conference to support the event. Rehab Rejab, who has put heart and soul into the Dubai Chapter, is now moving into the direct leadership of TESOL Arabia as our new president, bringing innovative and much needed change to the face and organizational leadership of our affiliate.

The TESOL Arabia leadership team at the Annual General Meeting at the 2012 18th International TESOL Arabia Conference held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

James McDonald has been a member of the TESOL Arabia Executive Council since 2007, serving as executive secretary, executive treasurer, vice president, and now president of the organization for the 2012/13 academic year. He has been an overseas educator for over 20 years in the Middle East and South America and is currently on the faculty of Zayed University's Academic Bridge Program in Dubai, UAE.

Beth Wiens is an instructor in the Academic Bridge Program at Zayed University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. She teaches and also works on various assessment and curriculum projects. She is a past president of TESOL Arabia and currently serves as the TESOL Arabia Conference Treasurer.

Dr. Christine Coombe has a PhD in foreign/second language education from The Ohio State University. She served as president of the TESOL International Association from 2011 to 2012 and as conference cochair of the TESOL Arabia Conference in 2012.