News Society News CEO Viewpoint Kate Baillie (CEO) 2014 was a year in which we had many reasons to celebrate, as some statistics demonstrate: A 25% increase in membership over three years, a 50% increase in Twitter followers in 12 months, and an average 25% increase in Impact Factors for our journals. It was also a period of huge change for the Society, which looks set to continue into 2015 as we complete the various process reviews and start to deliver the outcomes of some major projects. With the successes to celebrate and changes underway, we sought to use our Annual General Meeting in December 2014 as another avenue to engage with and update our members on the many activities occurring in the Society and Portland Press Limited. With a rather poor turnout in previous years it was fantastic to see improved attendance this year (from 4 members in 2013 to over 40 this year), although I am sure that a major factor driving attendance was the accompanying Colworth Medal Lecture from M Madan Babu (Cambridge) – ‘Functional versatility and regulation of proteins with intrinsically disordered regions’ – and the promise of a wine reception at the end of the event! I would like to thank everyone who made it to last year’s AGM. We will be running our AGM in a similar format again this year, and it would be excellent to see as many of you there as possible. Outgoing President Ron Laskey, left, with incoming President David Baulcombe 54 February 2015 © Biochemical Society If you could not make the AGM, I urge you to have a look at our 2013/14 Annual Report, which provides a summary of our work over the year, and future direction. You can find this on our website: http:// bit.ly/1snJXbc or request a hardcopy by emailing: [email protected]. Our AGM was also an opportunity to welcome Dame Julia Goodfellow (University of Kent, UK) as our latest Honorary Member. More than 65 people have now been made Honorary Members; a practice instituted at the very beginning of the Society’s existence to honour distinguished scientists who have a clear connection with the Society. You can read more about Dame Julia on page 56. More than 40 people attended last year’s AGM M. Madan Babu delivers the Colworth Medal Lecture News The Biochemical Society’s end-of-year drinks reception Outgoing Biochemical Society President Ron Laskey with wife Anne Laskey Society of Biology Chief Executive Mark Downs, left, and Nutrition Society Chief Executive Mark Hollingsworth The AGM provided a chance to say farewell to Trustees, including our President Ron Laskey, Policy Committee Chair David Fell and Biochemical Journal Editorial Board Chair Peter Shepherd, as featured in December’s The Biochemist, and welcome our new President Sir David Baulcombe and Policy Committee Chair Tim Dafforn. It is particularly pleasing to enter 2015 with someone of Sir David’s standing and background at the helm of Society. As many of you will know, Sir David is a world-renowned plant scientist whose research has contributed to major advances in molecular biology and biotechnology. His background across virus movement, genetic regulation, disease resistance, gene silencing and epigenetics is a testament to the breadth of biochemistry and its connection to the wider bioscience landscape. At the end of 2014, I also attended the Society of Biology’s Member Organizations’ meeting, and it was encouraging to hear George Freeman MP, the world’s first Minister for Life Sciences, reinforce that all areas of Government recognize the importance of the UK biosciences in the generation of economic growth. He gave a strong message that the three pillars of bioscience – food, medicines and energy, underpinned by biotechnology – need to be elevated in importance. During 2015 the Biochemical Society will be working with partner Societies, to ensure that this agenda, which is highly relevant to the continued development of the molecular biosciences, continues to be advanced. Throughout 2015 I will be using this column to update you on the many projects we have underway, including our rebranding exercise, the move of our journals to the HighWire Open Platform, greater engagement with industry and the development of training offerings for early career researchers, to name just a few. As our departing President remarked, 2014 was a year of change and challenges, but there is a lot to be optimistic and positive about for 2015. ■ February 2015 © Biochemical Society 55