From the editor.

I've always known that going to a conference could be a valuable experience, but the depth of learning and meaning that are possible didn't fully strike me until now. IABC's international conference happened in June. As is typical for planning a large event, the Toronto location was chosen years

ago. Like so many others, IABC's volunteer leaders and staff were shocked to see the SARS crisis unfold in dramatic fashion in the weeks leading up to conference. Not surprisingly, attendance was lower than originally expected, but the energy level and enthusiasm turned out to be especially high this year. First of all, the people who were there really wanted to be there--no doubt about that. Attendees seemed particularly caring and concerned about helping their colleagues who had gathered from around the world. And those who weren't in Toronto missed some exceptional sessions. Malcolm Gladwell, author of "The Tipping Point," offered his groundbreaking perspective on how little things can take off and become social epidemics when they reach critical mass. The well-timed (and well-attended) SARS case study session illustrated outstanding real time crisis communication in action.

Though we can never really recreate the experience of being there, we've included some of the great conference content in this issue. You'll find an insightful SARS article by Craig DuHamel and an interview with this year's Excellence in Communication Leadership award (EXCEL) winner, Ned Barnholt, CEO of Agilent Technologies Inc. As I write this, the conference team is developing webcasts that report on the general sessions. You can check www.iabc.com for more information.

And just for fun, we have in this issue a delightful conference report by Toronto writer Jane Naczynski. I had asked Jane for a "personal experience" piece on the IABC conference, and I think you'll like the conference tidbits she offers.

Here's to hoping that next year's IABC international conference n eve y Los Angeles will not De at the center of a major global problem. But should it be. I'd eke to think that the city's communicators would handle the situation as deftly as the communication leaders, heard in Toronto.