Dear Member:

New International Secretariat
As expected, at the ICOMOS General Assembly in Guadalajara, the new officials were elected and the International Wood Committee will be run jointly by the UK and Canada for the next three years. David Michelmore of the ICOMOS UK Wood Committee was elected the new President and Andrew Powter, Chairman of the ICOMOS Canada Wood Committee, was elected as Secretary General. A Management Group has been formed which includes Yasu Murakami of Japan, Antonio Frattari of Italy and Emine Erdogmus of Turkey. Plans are well in hand for next yearŐs programme.

UNESCO Luang Prabang, Vietnam - Technical Meeting
There has been no further information from the World Heritage Centre on the technical meeting in Luang Prabang, royal capital of Laos, scheduled for the second week of February. It is unlikely that many ICOMOS members will be able to attend two meetings in South East Asia next year, so we will be concentrating our efforts on the 12th IIWC Symposium to be held in Vietnam. Members interested in the Luang Prabang meeting should contact UNESCO for more information asd ICOMOS will not be playing a significant role.

12th International Symposium on the Conservation of Timber Structures
Our Vietnamese colleagues have now agreed on their preferred dates and the Symposium will be held in Hue and Hoi An from 25 April to 2 May 2000. Vietnam is a fascinating and beautiful country and we can really recommend this unique opportunity to evaluate the many and varied conservation projects being carried out there (see the separate preliminary information sheet attached). Any members or others who are interested in attending the 12th Symposium in Vietnam should contact Andrew Powter at the e-mail address or fax number above so additional information can be sent out as it becomes available.

International Conference on the Seismic Performance of Traditional Buildings
Everyone is very enthusiastic about this conference, which UNESCO has suggested should be held from 30 October, in the hope that the new Director General of UNESCO will attend. The lead in organising the conference will be taken by ICOMOS Turkey, the ICOMOS International Wood Committee and the ICOMOS UK Wood Committee (not necessarily in that order of importance), with members from other ICOMOS Scientific Committees being brought in as necessary (including the ICOMOS UK Earth Structures Committee). The Turkish Government is supporting this conference and ICOMOS Japan has sent an enthusiastic message of support. The Conference will be hosted jointly by ICOMOS, UNESCO and the Turkish Government although UNESCO will not be directly involved. We expect the Conference will have a very high profile and to bring a lot of kudos to ICOMOS for organising it. The mailing list of IIWC is being updated with new members coming forward in Mexico and since. To the extent possible we would like to communicate by e-mail, fax and post in that order. If you have an e-mail address or fax number please send it to Andrew Powter at the address below so you can be entered into the IIWC 'group'. This will simplify communication greatly.

Sincerely,

David Michelmore, President
Andrew Powter, Secretary General