Happy 2017, fellow statisticians!

It promises to be an interesting year for society in general and specifically for members of our Society. A big highlight for SSC members, of course, will be the Annual Meeting in Winnipeg. Program chair Erica Moodie and chief local organizer Alexandre Leblanc have been very busy planning the event, which will take place from June 11 to 14. I want to also draw your attention to the Canadian Statistics Student Conference (CSSC) which is in its fifth very successful year and will be held the day before the main conference. You can read more about both events elsewhere in this issue of Liaison. I’m also happy to report that the Board approved the 2018 meeting to be held June 3-6 at McGill University in Montreal.

In December I had the privilege to attend the tenth annual International Chinese Statistical Association (ICSA) conference in Shanghai. The SSC was one of several organizations that sponsored this major international conference. In fact, there were four SSC-sponsored invited sessions. But this only hints at the very impressive number of Canadians who participated – SSC members were everywhere, as organizers, session chairs, presenters and participants.

I was at the conference wearing two hats, representing both Statistics Canada, where I work, and the SSC. For the latter, I took part in a “presidents’ panel” on Global Statistical Collaborations: Opportunities, Challenges, and the Future that involved the leaders of 18 national and international statistical societies. In my contribution to the panel, I chose to focus on the role of statistical societies in the promotion of statistical education, of high standards and of, for lack of a better term, “community” among statisticians. My main message, which I share with you as well, was that the statistical community, both nationally and internationally, is being challenged by developments in other areas, and we run the risk of fragmentation, where some people doing essentially statistical work no longer identify with the community. In my view, statistical societies such as the SSC must play a central role to prevent this from happening.

Work continues steadily on the “backend” systems that underlie our website, membership data, meeting registration and so on. By now many of you will have renewed your membership using the new system. I have heard mostly positive comments, but if you had any difficulties in renewing your membership, please let us know. One complaint, a very valid one, which I have heard about the new website is that it’s not complete – there is some information on the old website that has not been migrated to the new one. I can assure you that the intention is to migrate all relevant material, but for now, the priority is to get all aspects of the backend functioning smoothly. In the last quarter of 2016, in addition to adding the new membership functionality, we also transitioned to a new accounting system, which was itself a major undertaking. A top priority as I write this is to get the new meeting registration system up and running. Once this is done, we will be able to devote more time to porting website content. If there is any particular content in the old website that you need,please let me know. Your feedback will help in establishing priorities.

We were all sad to hear of the passing of our colleague Stephen Fienberg in December. Dr. Fienberg was an internationally renowned statistician who never forgot his Canadian roots, and continued to be actively involved with the SSC right to the end. In fact, his death left a vacancy on our CRM-SSC Prize Committee, and I am pleased that Rob Tibshirani agreed without hesitation to join the committee effective immediately.

Finally, those of you who have already renewed your membership online noticed the new request for donations that appears as part of the annual fund drive. Early indications are that, thanks to the generosity of our members, we are progressing well toward our goal of matching the amount donated to the Presidents’ Matching Fund. If you haven’t done so already, please consider making a donation to help the Society better fulfill its mission.

In closing, on a lighter note, let me offer you all special wishes for 2017, the 150th birthday year of Canada. As a kid growing up in Montreal, I remember how special the 100th birthday was, with cross-country celebrations, centennial projects and Expo 67. Perhaps we won’t be able to match the celebrations that marked that milestone, but we can try! I wish you all health and happiness in 2017.

Jack Gambino