As another impressive year of ASSBI activities draws to a close, I find myself thinking about learned societies and associations like ASSBI. I know, I can hear you all thinking: “Get a life Jacinta!” but wait I do have a reason for this musing. I know in our time poor 21st century existence, we have to be canny about what we do and don’t choose to be involved in and learned societies are one of those things. So how do you decide about being involved? Of course you go to the literature (yes there is an evidence base) and it identifies the reasons/benefits for being involved, so you can weigh up the organisation/s you’re thinking about. And when we do that, ASSBI and our past and previous years’ activities clearly tick the box for 10 of the most highly sort after benefits of professional organisations (Goolsby & DuBois, 2017).
Benefits of Society Membership
- Continuing education
- Electronic newsletter
- Society journal
- National conferences
- Student membership
- Networking opportunities
- Practice resources
- Members-only resources
- Awards and Prizes
- Fellows programme
Our professional development programme offers members across disciplines numerous opportunities to participate in ongoing education and even to do so at your leisure with workshops available to download as video files. Not only do we have our electronic newsletter but also a website packed with easy to access benefits including our journal Brain Impairment, now in its 19th continuous year of publishing high quality papers, and our ASSBI resources to support effective practice. We have run 41 national conferences and this year we Connected and Collaborated in Adelaide thanks to the brilliant conference team led by Liz Williams. Next year we look forward to the 42nd Annual Brain Impairment conference held in collaboration with the New Zealand Rehabilitation Association (NZRA) as the inaugural ASSBI NZRA Trans Tasman Conference. William Levack with his outstanding team have put an exceptional Call to Action programme together to entice us all to participate, network and socialise in Wellington.
Student membership with substantially reduced dues and conference fees, the opportunity to contribute as student ambassadors and team leaders, and the array of student prizes we offer make ASSBI a particularly student friendly option for students across health professions. Our awards and prizes extend well beyond students to clinical practitioners (Early Career Clinical Innovation Award) and active researchers (annual Douglas and Tate journal prize for the best research paper). We maintain strong connections with international bodies reflecting similar missions to our own including the NZRA, the International Neuropsychological Society (INS) and the Neuropsychological Rehabilitation Special Interest group of the World Federation of NeuroRehabilitation (WFNR). So in short ASSBI is a great place to feel at home and reap the benefits that have been tailored just for you!
The success and warmth within our society rests with numerous people and special 2018 thanks go to many of you. These include the amazing executive and committee members; our corporate partners Shine Lawyers who continue to give us such valuable support, the 2018 and 2019 conference committees; the outgoing student coordinator Ann Huang, her incoming counterpart Jonathan Reyes, and the student team leaders and ambassadors; all the contributors to our rich and varied workshop and webinar programme for 2018; and then of course there’s Margaret, our CEO without whom the ASSBI years would have long ago drawn to a shuddering halt!
Warmest ASSBI wishes for the holiday season and a new year full of pleasant surprises all round!
Best wishes to you all,
Jacinta Douglas, President