Invitation to attend the ICRS Member’s General Assembly 2009 in Miami on May 25 and 26, 2009

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Dear ICRS Members, 

During the past 18 months, the ICRS Executive Board, the General Board and many standing committees have worked synergistically and tirelessly on a wide spectrum of projects and initiatives. The ICRS membership has increased 25% since the end of 2007 and we count now with over 1050 active members from 60 countries. 

Proposed new ICRS ByLaws (link)

The Board felt that it was now time to revise and update entirely our actual Society Bylaws (Articles of the Association) to face challenging times and to meet with our increased needs for the upcoming years as a professionally and transparently administrated society. 

The Executive Board and the General Board have worked-out and revised several times the proposed Articles of the Association and recommends to all members to approve the present draft. Please read the document carefully and let us know until May 15, 2009 if you would like to comment the actual proposed version with any suggestions which may be incorporated. The new articles of the association will be submitted for a vote by the floor during our 2nd General Member’s Assembly in Miami and, if approved, coming into effect immediately after the congress, respectively the new election procedures would be valid for our 9th World Congress 2010. 

ICRS Journal “Cartilage” 

Concept document (link)

Sage Proposal ICRS Journal "Cartilage" (link)

Establishing an own ICRS scientific journal has been a strategic priority and the board is very happy to present to our members the current concept of the proposed new ICRS Journal. We have consummated a relationship with Sage Publications as our Editing Company and look forward to a long term partnership. The society would be prepared to launch the ICRS journal Cartilage by early 2010. 

Such a prestigious project can only be realized by including the new ICRS journal “Cartilage” into the ICRS membership subscription fee for all members and therefore it would require an increase of the current membership fee of 25 Euros as from the next year to include 4 printed issues for the year 2010. The Executive Board and the General Board recommends to its members to approve this motion to include to productional and administrative costs for the proposed ICRS journal into the membership fee and to allow us in this sense to continue following our roadmap for further independency of the society, also with regards to our own scientific journal. 

Nominations for General Board and ICRS Committees

In Miami, 5 positions of the General Board will become vacant. The Executive Board invites all members to propose names as candidates for election to the General Board. Please send your suggestions for possible new General Board Members to the ICRS Executive Office by email or bring them directly to the registration desk in Miami until Tuesday May 26, 2009 at 11.30 AM, latest. Suggestions should be well founded in 3 - 4 lines with the main reasons, why the proposed person is considered suitable for a position in the ICRS General Board. Important is to describe what the person has done in the past for the Society and what this person is expected to contribute in the future to the society. Candidates must be able to serve the society timely and commit with the general requirements for candidates established and issued by the General Board.

The Executive Office will collect your suggestions and forward them to the Nominating Committee, presided by the Past President Mats Brittberg. The nominating committee will then make a selection of the proposed names to be voted and ratified during the General Assembly 2, Tuesday at 14.30 h.

If you have not registered yet for the ICRS 2009 World Congress, please take advantage and register until April 30, 2009 with reduced fees. Your presence is very important to us. Join us for ICRS 2009 in Miami from May 23 – 26, 2009. You can register with reduced fees for members by login into your ICRS Member account.

Looking forward to seeing you soon in Miami.

Yours sincerely,

Bert Mandelbaum
ICRS President 09 


All ICRS Members are cordially invited to attend the next ICRS General Assembly 2009 (Business Meetings) to be held in Miami, USA as follows:

 General Assembly 1

Monday, May 25, 2009 at 17.45 – 18.15
Hotel Intercontinental Biscayne Bay, Miami – Room Chopin

Agenda I

1) Address by the President
- President’s report on past activities
- Information on ICRS 2010 Sitges/Barcelona (Autumn) and ICRS 2012 Montreal (Spring)

2) Address by the Vice President
- Presentation of the project: New ICRS Journal “Cartilage”

3) Report of the Secretary-General
- Presentation of proposed amended ICRS Bylaws

4) Report of the Treasurer
- Presentation and ratification of the Treasurer's & Auditing Report

5) Address by the chairman of the Nominating Committee (Elections)

6) Any other Business


General Assembly 2 

Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 14.30 – 15.00
Hotel Intercontinental Biscayne Bay, Miami – Room Chopin

Agenda II

1) Address by the chairman of the Nominating Committee

2) Election of the new General Board Members

3) Address by the outgoing President
- Voting of the amended ICRS By-Laws
- Voting for the new “ICRS owned” Journal and its publisher Sage Publications

4) Any other business


ICRS Executive Office: office@cartilage.org phone: +41 44 390 18 40 fax: +41 44 390 18 41 www.cartilage.org