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Well, what can I say - the last 6 months have sped by and we have gone quickly from the chill of Winter to the heat of Summer. What happened to Spring? There is a section in my wardrobe that hasn't seen the light of day this year!

Unfortunately we had to say goodbye to one of our new Board members, Penny King, who found that increased work commitments meant less time for WIT. Thank you Penny for your contribution in that short period of time, and we hope to still see you. Welcome aboard Sue Shaw, our new Events Director taking Penny's place. Sue has her own business in events management (ESP Event Management & Wedding Planners) so will bring lots of experience to the Board.

Also, good news on the Board front. Earlier this year ex-Board member Helen Alexander gave birth to a beautiful boy, and more recently we have celebrated the birth of another baby boy to current Board member Karen Richardson, so congratulations to both.

I hope you have enjoyed the events on offer this year, even if you have been unable to attend. It has been a busy year as we sought to combine some of our Mentor Program events with regular events. The year culminated with our Christmas Event on 2nd, where we joined forces with Foundation 21, bought hand made jewelry from Finn Design, and enjoyed the culinary delights of the House of Chow. Thank you to Tom for being such an avid supporter of WIT and organising this event for us.

Thank you also to those who took the time to participate in our survey, we are reviewing our Calendar for 2010 based on this feedback, but our emphasis will still be on an informal atmosphere in which to exchange ideas, views and business cards with like minded people. We will continue to run our Mentoring Program for Uni students and for those in more senior positions the Board Readiness Program is now part of WIT in SA.

I am continually delighted at the number of senior people, male and female, in and around Adelaide, who are only too willing to participate in WIT activities, as mentors or as speakers, or simply attending our events. We really are living in a city that has a unique spirit of helping each other out.

Let me just climb onto my soapbox for a few minutes. I have been in IT since the 70's (yes punched cards and all that......) when the issue of the profile of women in male dominated industries was emerging.  I was therefore disappointed that at one of the Christmas do's I went to recently there was a distinct lack of females. Does this mean the females weren't in an appropriate position to be invited or is it merely that we as females put our families first? I'd be interested in your comments. I was also rendered speechless (I may be quiet but speechless - no!) at the same event when I was standing in a group of males and this young male in his 20's approached the group and introduced himself to everyone except me and ignored me for the rest of the conversation - let's hope he never tries to get a job when I'm on the selection panel! I moved on to another group who took me seriously. It looks like we still have a long way to go!

Christmas is only a week away so I'd like to take this opportunity on behalf of the Board to wish you and your families a wonderful Christmas and best wishes for the New Year. We look forward to seeing you in 2010.