From AICP's President	.
Roger K. Hedrick, AICP, ASLA	Author Info

The first year as your President of AICP has been filled with excitement and enormous challenge, exceeding every possible expectation. It has been an honor to serve and meet many of you at national and chapter conferences, university lectures and through E-mail.

This is the second year in a row that we have been able to provide you with the opportunity to obtain the National Conference Proceedings at a reasonable cost. It continues to be my view that provision of the proceedings is something that most planners and those interested in the American planning movement will want on an annual basis. Particularly those who can not always attend our annual get together. Last year only 300 copies were printed and needless to say are now collector's items. With less than 1,000 copies printed this year, for the first time AICP Press has published the Proceedings. Yes, AICP will now selectively publish journals and papers of interest to planning practitioners and academics based upon need and demand. And, more projects are being considered for the coming year including AICP 's Everyday Ethics for Practicing Planners and AICP 's Collegiate Handbook for Planning.

As we near the third millennium, perhaps it is once again appropriate to visit our historical roots. The first conference proceedings of planning were published by the National Conference on City Planning in the year 1909. Conference Proceedings were then published annually over the next 25 years. In 1934, the American Society of Planning Officials (ASPO) began publishing annual conference proceedings and continued this practice for the next 37 years until 1971. During its existence, the American Institute of Planners (AIP) only published proceedings periodically. The last proceedings produced by ASPO occurred at the conclusion of the New Orleans Annual Conference in 1971. In 1979, ASPO and AIP merged into the American Planning Association. In 1981, APA published its only proceedings following the Boston Annual Conference. Last year with a renewed interest under the auspices of AICP, the experiment of again publishing the proceedings was renewed.

Perhaps next year we should once again consider documenting the state of the art of planning by publishing annual Conference Proceedings. Admittedly, technology has provided us with many interactive communication opportunities with which we should avail ourselves, particularly CD ROMs and web sites on the Internet (see www.planning.org/). However, in my view, there still exists the need on selected occasions to share information through the written or printed word. And, if there is an interest in public service from the academic community, perhaps next year's proceedings can be organized and edited by planning faculty.

This year's Proceedings are a repeat of last year's remarkable achievement. Bill Pable and Bruce McClendon, AICP, planners from Orange County, Florida, edited it on a volunteer basis. One of the important strengths of AICP is the willingness of so many of our members to freely give their time and energy on behalf of public service. There are currently in excess of 30 volunteer AICP committees, task forces or juries working diligently to advance the planning profession.

AICP owes a debt of gratitude to Paul Sedway, Sedway Consulting, and the Sedway Group for providing a generous grant in support o f the 1998 Conference Proceedings. He has exemplified AICP's finest traditions of volunteerism and member involvement.

AICP's mission for the third millenium and beyond is to assure the public of quality professional planning and the provision of support for planners as the leading advocates for planning in communities throughout the nation and perhaps the world. The AICP

Commission proposes to carry out this vision in four areas: certification of professional planners, accreditation of university planning programs, ethical awareness, and continuing education.

It is in the area of continuing education that perhaps we face our greatest challenge. While the provision of conference proceedings is one way to provide this valuable member service, there are of course many more possibilities. Perhaps most promising is long distance learning from AICP to the Chapters of APA. My hope is that you will share your thought! and suggestions with us concerning how we can best provide professional continuing education to you and to all others who want it.