President's Message - Nov.

Dear SEB Members,

The core activity of the Society is the participation of its members. Participation may be passive, such as reading the latest issue of Economic Botany, or it may be more active such as attending the annual meetings, presenting research talks or posters, and contributing manuscripts for the journal.

A few individuals step forward each year and make substantial contributions to the Society in the form of service. My letter this month concerns two forms of participation through service: serving on a Society committee and becoming an elected representative of the Society.

Service through Society Committees
The number of committees varies with needs and interests. The committees are vital to the functioning of the Society, keeping us on track with policies, selection of outstanding activities, recognition of honors, and recruitment of new members among an array of tasks.

Each committee has several members who work together on their tasks. Diversity of perspectives is essential for most committee tasks. Service on a committee is generally not difficult as conversations and documents are distributed with the Internet. Face-to-face meetings may occur at the annual meeting or not at all. We need volunteers to step forward and contribute a few hours here and there for the benefit of the Society.

Committee members are appointed each year by the president following the guidelines of the SEB Bylaws. The specific committees vary but usually include: Archives, Auditing, Bylaws, Education & Outreach, Endowment, Ethics, Finance, Membership, Nominations & Awards, Meetings, and Publications. Members interested in volunteering to serve on a committee should contact the President or the committee chair as indicated on the SEB web site.

Service as a Society Elected Representative
Late in each year an important meeting is held by the SEB nominations committee. The committee is tasked with identifying candidates for the various elected offices of the society. The offices include: President, Secretary, Treasurer, Council Members-at-large, and Student Representative. The membership is solicited for nominations for the various offices. From among these nominations the committee selects a smaller subset that is determined to be well qualified. The committee chair asks the individuals if they are willing to stand for election. Among the details provided to potential candidates are the time and financial commitments that will be expected of them if elected. Elected persons are expected to attend the annual meeting each year of their terms of office (usually 3 years). They pay for their own costs of attending the meetings including registration, travel, and lodging. In addition, the elected usually attend a mid-year council meeting, also at their own expense. It is not cheap to be elected into an SEB position. Once a person has agreed to stand for election, they submit 1-2 paragraphs about themselves and their vision for the SEB.

Elected representatives of the Society, such as myself, have served on committees, using these experiences as the basis for getting to know the Society and to develop ideas about where the Society should be going. I hope that many of you will choose to participate in the Society by volunteering to serve on committees and/or agreeing stand for election.

Will McClatchey, 2006-7
SEB President
president@econbot.org