ISGE VIDEOS

 I took over the office from Harry Reich at the recent meeting in Osaka, Japan.  Harry has guided the Society through a very difficult couple of years and his term as President ended on a high note when he presided over the ISGES’ most successful meeting in Osaka.
Japan-a great success!!!
Many of us were concerned that combining our annual scientific meeting with APAGE and the Japanese Society of Obstetrical and Gynecological Endoscopy was a recipe for disaster.  Professors Hoshiai, Tsutsami and Shiota assured us that all would be well.  I am delighted to report that not only were the doubters wrong and the organizers right but the Osaka meeting was one of the most successful in the history of the ISGE.  The meeting combined education, culture and friendship. When we left Japan for our homes in far off places we l felt totally fulfilled and,in some ways,  a little empty.
Future Meetings
The next Society calendar event, again combined with another major society, the ESGE, will be held in Portorose, Slovenia over September 6-9.  The ISGE symposium will concentrate on “Adhesions”.  The previously planned meeting in Munich hit logistical problems and the Society is very grateful to the European Society and its Executive for allowing us to join them during their annual Scientific meeting.  I hope that as many people as possible will join with us in this beautiful country - again for education, friendship and a wonderful cultural experience.

Concerning meetings for 2008, our new Vice President, Stefano Bertocchi, has the Bari, Italy meeting well in hand.  Those of you who attended the closing ceremony in Osaka will have had your travel appetites well and truly wetted as Stefano’s colleagues showed some of the beautiful architecture that we will experience during our visit next June (www.isge.org). 
Ellis Downes has taken over the chairmanship of the Conference Committee and is busy planning meetings out to 2011.  Iit is timely for us all to thank Professor John Newton for his many years service to ISGE and in particular as the former Chairman of the Conference Committee.  John committed himself to carry out his duties with the same precision he would have run his university department during his clinical years.  He has set a high standard for Ellis to maintain but I have every confidence that his is up to the task.
Foundation members retire.
Other members of the Executive who have handed on their duties include Jacques Donnez (Past President), Victor Gomel (Honorary Secretary) and Jack Sciarra (Federation Planning Committee).  These men have been an important part of ISGE since its inception and the wealth of experience they have between  them  must be harvested by the current Executive.  I will hold discussions with each of them in the near future in the hope that they will continue to be “International Ambassadors” for our Society and promote our aims.
The Secretariat and Honorary Secretary
The position of Honorary Secretary and the Secretariat has, for the present, been kindly accepted by Robert O’Shea, an Australian colleague of mine who, together with his Secretary Lydia Lacey, successfully had the same role in the Australian Society of Gynaelogical  Endoscopy (AGES).  At the completion of their time, the AGES was left in a very sound financial position.  I am confident that during the next months they will weave their magic and have the same impact on ISGE.  We are now in the process of updating our membership list to make sure that all members are financial thus determining the financial basis for our Society.
 Bruno Van Herendail, who stepped into the position when there was considerable crisis, is cooperating with the new Secretariat to ensure a smooth transition of membership details.  The Society is grateful to Bruno for all of the effort he put into his position during his term of office.
Treasurer
During these tumultuous years, Ray Valle has worked long and hard as Honorary Treasurer to monitor the Society’s finances and we are pleased to announce his continuation in this role.  I know that we can feel very confident that Ray will work closely with the new Secretariat and monitor closely members, ex-members and their financial status.
Training Committee
The Training Committee, under Chairman Yap Lip Kee, a past President of ISGE, continues to run successful training programs in Asia, Europe and South America.
 I am sure all members will agree that the role of the Training Committee is to introduce and encourage the uptake and improvement of endo-surgical skills and not to teach very specialized skills such as pelvic floor surgery or surgery for extensive endometriosis.  As we have limited finances (up until now most generously supported by Mrs. Storz), we will continue to run our training program as an introductory and basic training concept.  It is important to remember all members involved in training are unpaid and therefore it is not realistic to expect trainers to train other surgeons to improve their private practice.

Make sure you remain/become financial

As paid up members of the ISGE, you can now access a very updated and sophisticated web site (carefully constructed under the watchful eye of Tamer Seckin).  You can hyperlink with the site, have your own mini web site, drop videos onto it and use chat room facilities.
New Board members
I would personally like to welcome the members voted onto the Board for the first time at the Osaka meeting.  They are Drs. Larry Glazerman (USA), Kurian Joseph (India), Michael Rogers (Hong Kong, China) and Mario Malzoni (Italy).

2007 and beyond !
2007 offers us many challenges.  The main ones are consolidation of our membership list, in particular tracking down those who have become non-financial, and improving our financial support. New sponsors must urgently be found to share the load with Storz.
 Better communication between the Board and the Society must occur throughout the year and not just at meetings. We hope to use skype (www.skype.com) and more frequent newsletters under the supervision of our Editor, Anglo-Australian, Ray Garry.

I, together with the Board, accept these challenges and hopefully at the end of this year we will have a tighter, more financially secure Society.

If any members wish to contact me or any Board members, we invite you to do so.  Until next time.

Best Wishes

Peter Maher,
President, International Society of Gynecological  Endoscopy  (peterm2@tpg.com.au)