Statisticians from across Canada descended upon the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington DC this past August to partake in the Joint Statistics Meetings in person for the first time in three years. The expo floor was a bustling sea of handshakes (or COVID-friendly elbow bumps), business cards, industrial swag, and two oversized Jenga towers teetering on the brink of collapse. In one cozy corner, the SSC desk extended its hospitality to the passersby with warm smiles and delicious maple sweets.

SSC participants in the conference were too numerous to name individually. However, on Monday afternoon, the session regarding the 50th anniversary of the Canadian Journal of Statistics and the Statistical Society of Canada featured four eloquent speakers. They discussed contributions of Canadian statisticians to such topics as environmetrics, copulas, and empirical processes. The excellent work of CANSSI was also highlighted. Talks were given by Charmaine Dean from the University of Waterloo, Louis-Paul Rivest from Université Laval, Donald Estep from CANSSI, and Bouchra Nasri from the École de Santé Publique de l’Université de Montréal.

When the conference sessions had ended on Tuesday, the party could finally begin. Dozens of SSC members met face-to-face for the first time in years at the Statistical Society of Canada reception held in a delightfully cozy meeting room within the Mariott-Marquis adjacent to the DC convention center. The conversations and hors d'oeuvres made for a nice prelude to the JSM awards and dance party later that evening.

Another high point came on Wednesday evening when Nancy Reid from the University of Toronto was presented with the COPSS Distinguished Achievement Award. She gave a lecture entitled “Likelihood and its Discontents” to a massive ballroom of conference goers.

JSM ended on Thursday morning with a loving tribute to the memory of Donald A. S. Fraser with talks by Nancy Reid, Grace Yi, Jack Kalbfleisch, and Peter McCullagh.

Next year, Canada lays claim to JSM, which will take place in Toronto on August 5–10, 2023. See you there!

Adam B Kashlak, Liaison Editor-in-Chief