Association Management toasts 50 years of knowledge exchange.

As our anniversary salute, we've uncorked the vintage wine: We've paused, if only for a portion of this issue, to enjoy and appreciate what the magazine has been while also considering what it will be.

Birthdays and anniversaries are wonderful occasions for luxuriating in the warm and fuzzy feelings of the moment - feelings lightly draped with a twinge of nostalgia, a prickly awareness of the speed of life, and a merry wonderment about what is yet to be.

Examining the pages of ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT since 1949 was not unlike the fun of turning the pages of a family album. The magazine has encapsulated so much of the character of association management's history I find it impossible not to be moved by this unique repository of knowledge and people. As with the family album, you alternately laugh at your youth, wince at your growing pains, and beam with pride.

To create the timeline that accompanies Carole Schweitzer's "Fifty Years of the Profession in Print" (page 30), each editor reviewed a decade of magazine issues. I had a great time reliving the '80s. I was surprised that we had as much coverage as we did on audio and teleconferencing, internationalism, and personal-interest stories. And we certainly did our fair share of name dropping - Elizabeth Dole, Ralph Nader, George Bush the father, Art Buchwald, John Naisbitt, Ronald Reagan, Walter Mondale, Tom Peters and Nancy Austin, Peter Drucker, and many others.

Across the decades one of the most noticeable dimensions of the magazine is the seriousness and single-mindedness with which it has pursued its mission: It is recognizably the product of ASAE members, enfolding diverse associations, issues, and people. Your voice has always been present, your interests always represented. Your generosity in sharing what you've learned with the community at large is at the core of every issue - without exception. This aspect of the association model is something I know the magazine will continue to value and encourage.

When we ask members what comes to mind when they think of ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT, they use such adjectives as professional, solid, relevant, thoughtful. Admittedly, members also tell us the magazine is at times stodgy and overwhelming. When we look to the future and our aspirations for what the magazine can embody, we think of how we will venture to make ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT even more accessible, more informative, more useful, and an even more respected resource.

That awareness of the quick passage of time that comes with anniversaries and birthdays - and certainly with family albums like ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT'S - holds a reminder notice: You have no say about the fact that you do age, but you can influence how you age. ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT intends to do it with renewed vigor, with unabashed recognition of the vital and energetic professionals who are the association community, and with a pride in our roots but an eagerness to achieve new levels of knowledge exchange. We like being about learning. We like being about you.

Lest I have misled you momentarily, I should note that the issue is as much a focus on the future as it is a tribute to the past. Looking ahead is a tradition we're also proud of. Whether on a next birthday or anniversary, we want to be sure our retrospection gives us both the warm fuzzies and a deserved appreciation for how much we shape our own futures.