Dear Affiliate Leaders!

This year to my big regret I didn’t have a chance to participate in-person in the 2015 TESOL Annual Convention in Toronto, Canada. However, I had a chance to be involved very actively in planning for the 2015 TESOL Convention.

Every year after each TESOL Convention, we at the Affiliate Leadership Council (ALC) team have an organizing brainstorming meeting just exactly after the Affiliate Assembly. We usually discuss and plan possible topics, timeline and communication for next year ALC workshops. This brainstorming meeting helps us stay tuned and focused during the planning phase. As with other teams communication among ALC members is always the key to making the ALC meetings successful.

By writing this message from the Chair, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for my team members and dear colleagues Janet Pierce and Ana Maria Rocca for their help, support and understanding. I always feel as if I were with my family members by asking Janet and Ana different questions or problems to be solved. They are always ready to help or to share their tips. I think this strong communication relationship makes my participation in planning effective and productive.

During the year, in addition to other ALC duties, we had regular email and Facebook communication to plan the Editor’s Workshop, Leadership Break-Out Sessions, ALC Assembly and ALC Colloquium for the 2015 TESOL Convention. I will always remember the example of true collaboration when Janet helped Ana with the Editor’s Workshop. Janet invited Three Rivers TESOL representative Robert Mucklo to facilitate sessions entitled “How we have changed moving from paper to electronic and website visibility” and “Search for websites and tools – combining technological and people roles in a changing world – Wild Apricot’s options.” The issues of moving from paper to electronic version and working with websites are one of the most disputable topics among affiliate leaders. These questions or comments have been raised at Editor’s Workshop every year. I would like to express my thankfulness to Janet for conducting sessions with Robert. I am grateful that true collaboration and willingness to support each other is and will be always the way we run ALC.

Another moment I would like to share is planning the 2015 ALC Colloquium. Based on comments, remarks and questions from affiliate leaders and by following 2015 Convention theme, we chose “Crossing Borders, Building Bridges through Affiliate Partnerships” as the topic for the 2015 ALC Colloquium. Having my own experience building partnership relations between affiliates, I was happy to submit the presentation of TexTESOLV and Yakut TESOL Partnership. But before the conference it turned out that I couldn’t attend it in-person because of different visa regulations. I am very grateful for Elizabeth Smith and Jey Venkatesan from TexTESOLV who presented our partnership at the ALC Colloquium. Thank you!

I am glad that the 2015 TESOL Convention was a great success due to hard work of the ALC during the year! I will see you all in 2016 in Baltimore, MD at the celebration of TESOL International’s 50^th Anniversary. I am happy that TESOL and I were born in the same year in 1966! Way to Go!