| TITLE: | 1999 Liaison Report of the International SGML User's Group (SGML UG) |
| SOURCE: | Pamela Gennusa, President ISUG |
| PROJECT: | All SC34 projects |
| PROJECT EDITOR: | All SC34 editors |
| STATUS: | Official Liaison Report |
| ACTION: | For information |
| DATE: | 16 February 1999 |
| DISTRIBUTION: | SC34 and Liaisons |
| REFER TO: | |
| REPLY TO: | Dr. James David Mason
(ISO/IEC JTC1/SC34 Chaiman) Lockheed Martin Energy Systems Information Management Services 1060 Commerce Park, M.S. 6480 Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6480 U.S.A. Telephone: +1 423 574-6973 Facsimile: +1 423 574-0004 Network: masonjd@ornl.gov http://www.ornl.gov/sgml/sc34/ ftp://ftp.ornl.gov/pub/sgml/sc34/ |
1998 saw an increase in membership again. We added one new chapter and 187 new members. Many of these new members are considered associate members, that is, they are members of a chapter. As an example, the Finnish chapter recently had a membership drive that saw their membership increase from 84 to 144. This brings the total number of chapters to 9 and members to 1,116.
Although our ranks continue to grow, our members appear to be too busy to undertake organizational responsibilities. This has led to less than an enthusiastic response to our most recent call for nominations. The group has therefore decided to revise its consitution to provide only for the election of the President. In the past, the President, Vice President, and 6 members of the Executive Council were elected. In the future, the Vice President and the 6 elected members of the EC will be appointed by the President and ex officio members of the EC (the leaders of the various chapters).
Further, this year our election slate will be James Mason, ORNL, for President. A ballot for this slate will be sent in early February. Assuming a simple majority vote, James will preside over the AGM to be held on Tuesday, 27 April 1999 in Granada, Spain in conjunction with the GCA's XML Europe '99 conference.
Robin Cover continues to serves as our Web Manager. Our new URL is http://www.isgmlug.org/
To reflect the influence felt in the community and marketplace of the W3C recommendation, XML, the ISUG has changed its branding to: ISUG, The International SGML/XML Users' Group. The registered name of the Group, however, remains as: International SGML Users' Group (ISUG). Agendas from the various Chapter meetings show that both SGML and XML are important topics of interest to our members.
The series of SGML and XML conferences again grew in size, each increasing by up to 25%. The Fall of 1998 also saw the launch of SGML Japan.
ISUG is pleased to have the opportunity to work with SC34. We were glad to see the TCs on WebSGML and hope to see work on the Standard continue.
We look forward to continued co-operation in the future.
| Pamela L. Gennusa | President |
| Dr. Charles F. Goldfarb | Head of Delegation |