Birthday presence.

ASAE's communication flagship ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT has long been a source of great pride to our organization - and particularly to its publisher and the editorial, design, advertising, and production staff who help celebrate the magazine's 50th birthday in the pages that follow. Maintaining a print personality that reflects the family side of ASAE while serving as the preeminent professional journal for the association management profession worldwide is no easy task. And the success of this kind of dual role can only be accomplished with the participation and interaction of loyal readers and members who continue to support the magazine with contributions, kudos, and constructive critiques. As we celebrate ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT, we also celebrate you for your valuable input - now and in the years to come.

The dynamics of change defining ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT'S lifetime are reflected in many visible iterations of enhanced photography and graphics, expanded advertising, and more in-depth coverage of the issues and people that constantly revise our roles and challenge us to excel. These same forces impact ASAE as a membership organization, driving us to redefine and clarify other elements: our image, our purpose, and our self-perception.

ASAE is a professional society serving individuals and organizations. Through staff and member team synergies, we have maintained our commitment to be the definitive professional society representing the individuals who have chosen association management for their life's work. To further our goal to also serve the organizational entities that individual members lead, you'll see us broadening our scope through greater involvement among those who interact with our members in commercial, educational, and collaborative relationships. We'll continue to count on ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT to carry the news of our expanded activities.

In the spotlight of ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT'S 50th, we also see a future for ASAE brighter than at any time in our history. Our pride in our profession is being effectively communicated to all our constituencies. The credibility of associations continues to grow as legislators and others become more aware of the critical role associations play as sources of information and promoters of the democratic process. We're so resolved to that role - and the relevance of our magazine's message as a way to convey it - that ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT is now delivered directly to the desks of all members of Congress each month.

With 50 years of success behind it, ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT will continue to be our primary outreach to all with whom we interact. While we enhance ASAE's communication package with the increased presence of online newsletters, e-mail lists, and electronically delivered information and knowledge, our professional journal will continue to be the centerpiece of that empowered network. As we tip our hats to ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT, we celebrate all those, past and present, who have contributed to its half-century of success in print.