It was a pleasure seeing many familiar faces, many new ones, and many who have posted to air-l (and who will hopefully post to it in the future) at last week's AoIR conference in Toronto. There are many people to thank for the success of the conference in Toronto. I could create a list that would be longer than air-l rules allow! In no order but that of largely memory, my sincerest thanks go to Program Chair Matthew Allen, Conference Chair Liss Jeffrey and her co-Chair David Mitchell, the myriad volunteers on-site (Susan Aaron , Kristen Berg, Chris Cocca, Bernie Hogan, Graig Kent, Alex Kuskis, Trishna Ninan, Dhirender Nirwani, Jason Nolan, Katherine Parrish, Monica Prijatelj, Inna Romanovska, Jason Shim, Phuoc Tran, Mark Tufford, and likely others whose names I don't know) before, during (and probably after) the conference, Barry Wellman for his great local assistance, and the myriad proposal reviewers (Samantha Adams, Ben Anderson, Mark Andrejevic, Kumiko Aoki, Michael Arnold-Mages, Senthilkumar Ayyasamy, Gitte Bang Stald, Mads B¯dker, Klaus Bruhn Jensen, Ulla Bunz, John Campbell, Scott Campbell, Alexander Campbell-Halavais, Martin S¯nderlev Christensen, Deborah Cohen, Mia Consalvo, Ann De Vaney, Simon Egenfeldt-Nielsen, Eric George, Gerard Goggin, Eszter Hargittai, Andy Herman, Bernie Hogan, Philip Howard, Jeremy Hunsinger, Venilde Jeronimo, Michelle Kazmer, Lori Kendall, Tracy Kennedy, Storm King, Lisbeth Klastrup, Rita Lauria, Jane Long, Uwe Matzat, Dan Menchik, Catherine Middleton, Adrian Mihalache, Melanie Mortensen, Gina Neff, Jason Nolan, Diana Odom-Gunn, Han Woo Park, Serge Proulx, Denise Rall, Gilad Ravid, Wendy Robinson, Christian Sandvig, Michael Schulte, Susannah Stern, Jonathan Sterne, Jennifer Stromer-Galley, TL Taylor, Rianne Ten Veen, Fred Turner, Cassandra Van Buren, Michele Willson, Mete Yildiz, and there may yet be others whom I've not listed), Jason Nolan and his crew for blogging and blog setup, Eric George for coordination of Francophone sessions, Graham Longford and Reem El-Tawashy for the printed program and to Ryerson University's School of Information Technology Management for assistance with its printing and with the printing of abstracts, Ira Nayman for bringing up Toronto as a site in the first place, some two years ago, seed sponsors Seneca College, the University of Toronto's Knowledge Media Design Institute (KMDI), Bell University Labs at the University of Toronto, byDesign eLab, eCommons/Agora, as well as Sage Publications, Apple Computer/Apple-Canada for technology support and demos, Heritage Canada, Industry Canada, and let's not forget the terrific people on the hotel staff who took very good care of us, particularly Jim Muratori and Gary Krantz. I also wish to particularly thank Rhiannon Bury, University of Waterloo, Catherine Middleton, Ryerson University, and Olivia Robertson, OISE, University of Toronto, who worked tirelessly during the run-up to the conference to put all the pieces together and make it happen. If I've left anyone out I do apologize...over time as our conferences have grown so too has (thank goodness!) the number of people involved and so too has my memory served me less well. I will hope to see you all at next year's conference in Sussex, UK! Steve Jones Sj the longest air-l daily digest: The Infonomics Institute and its Director, Luc Soete, The Cal Company and the MECC (which I still think stands for "Monica's Excellent Conference Center"), the members of the program committee and our terrific program chair this year Klaus Bruhn Jensen, the members of the executive committee, our keynoters, Apple Computer, Sander Pomme, Herman Pijper, Sage Publications for sponsoring a refreshment break...and on and on. Nevertheless, the primary "mover and shaker" behind it was Monica Murero and she deserves all of the thanks and credit in the world, certainly far more than I can convey. It was through her hard work and dedication that the stage was literally set for the several days we were able to meet, talk, think, share, eat, in some cases dance, and for many us rarely get some sleep. The conference was splendid, and I'm sure I speak on behalf of the attendees, as well as many who were unable to attend, in addition to myself, by saying that Monica has earned her place in AoIR history. Given this, she and the others of you, whether in Maastricht or not, have assured AoIR a strong and vibrant future. Two years ago when we met for the first time at the University of Kansas it was not entirely certain that we would have another meeting. The good people at the University of Minnesota ensured that we would, and I was more than heartened by the turnout there, in the face of great unease about travel - some of which continues to this day, and if not unease about travel then unease about the prospect of war. I continue to be grateful that so many are willing to spend time away from family and other loved ones to be with colleagues and friends for some days. Spending time with one another is a gift I suspect we do not think about as much as we may have before we had the Internet and widespread use of email, but it is cherished. It is my hope that many of you will again spend some time together, with me, in Toronto, October 16 - 19, 2003. There is a productive and spirited discussion on air-meet already going on concerning planning for the conference, and I encourage you to join in if you would like (http://www.aoir.org/mailman/listinfo/air-meet). Liss Jeffrey, David Mitchell and Matthew Allen are already leading us toward another excellent gathering in a year's time. We will need reviewers for conference paper, panel, workshop, etc., proposals - I cannot stress enough how much we will need your help for that! And I encourage you to consider hosting a future conference, so I will be re-posting our Call for Hosts in a moment. It is, of course, a lot of work to host a conference, but with each one we are better able to plan and anticipate the needs. Given our rapid growth we need to be planning still further ahead, and I will look forward to our 2004, 2005 and beyond meetings,too, with great anticipation. It is on such a note of encouragement that I will end this report. AoIR has grown phenomenally, and to make it an association that you like, you need to be involved in it. If you like something about it, please work with us to make it more to your liking. If you don't like something about it, work to change it. Whatever you do, do not walk away from it - neither we, nor you, I venture, can possibly gain that way. We have a diverse group of members, and we could diversify still further, but diversification, like anything else, will not happen if we look for someone else to do it for us. Tell people you think might be interested in AoIR about us. Join in on air-meet or on a working group. Propose a working group to start a new initiative. Propose panels, papers. Post to air-l. This association sprang from the desire of a few people to do something and from the follow-up actions they took, and it can continue only if others act on their interests and desires. Get in touch with me or with other members of the executive committee at your pleasure and let us know your thoughts and interests, and your interest to volunteer.