As I gaze into the future.

ALL OF US KNOW that this is a difficult time for our industries and our profession, so it should come as no surprise that these are difficult times for NCEW, too.

How difficult? Because of declining membership and uncertain attendance at the annual convention in Salt Lake City, there is a very real possibility that NCEW have to dip into its reserve funds to avoid running out of cash before the end of this year. Luckily, we have reserves, but this is obviously a situation that calls for action.

It was against that stark background that the NCEW board met in Salt Lake City on April 24 and 25. That meeting produced a number of important decisions about the future of NCEW. Mostly, it produced a deep conviction among board members that the organization must either change in fundamental ways or die.

The board is opting for change. Each of the organization's officers is heading a work group dealing with one of NCEW's most pressing issues.

Vice president Tom Waseleski is heading up a group looking at our conventions, including the question of whether annual conventions still make sense and the possibility of holding conventions jointly with other organizations.

Treasurer Dan Radmacher is heading a work group on leadership. This group is examining how to expand the pool of members willing and able to run for board and officer slots in this difficult economic environment.

Secretary Froma Harrop is heading a group looking at ways to expand membership, including new membership categories, merger with other organizations and perhaps even a name change for NCEW. (See page 18.)

We also will be asking the membership to approve a bylaw change that will allow the bylaws to be amended by electronic vote of the membership between the annual meetings. NCEW's future will be a prime topic of discussion for the membership when we meet in Salt Lake City--which makes it all the more important that as many members as possible attend.

A first step for all NCEW members would be to volunteer to serve on any of the work groups outlined above. All we ask is that you come prepared to work and with an open-minded commitment to the survival and future success of NCEW. Together, we can chart a course for this organization.

But we don't have much time.

On another note, after 31 years as a daily journalist and more than 20 as an NCEW member, I am leaving the newspaper business. I have accepted an offer to become director of communications for the Kettering Foundation in Dayton, Ohio, and will begin those duties sometime in June.

It's an exciting opportunity, but one that comes with a cost: I will be resigning as president of NCEW when I leave my current post with The Sacramento Bee.

It is not easy to say goodbye to an organization that I hold dear. But the decision is made easier by the knowledge that with Tom Waseleski, Dan Radmacher, and Froma Harrop as officers, NCEW is in good hands.

David Holwerk, the former editorial page editor at The Sacramento Bee, has resigned as NCEW president. Email [e-mail]