ALT-C 2005 in sunny Manchester. We enjoyed another successful and inspiring conference (see the full report in this issue) and once again the weather was kind. My thanks go to the ALT staff, the ALT-C 2005 helpers, staff at the University of Manchester, the programme committee, session chairs, our sponsors and exhibitors, and all the members and presenters who made it a conference to remember. Presentation files by the presenters are being added to the conference web site at http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2005

AGM news. Congratulations to Linda Creanor (Glasgow Caledonian University), who was elected Vice-Chair of ALT at the Annual General Meeting in Manchester. The Vice-Chair serves for 3 years, taking on the Chair and the Presidency in the second and third years respectively. Jane Seale (University of Southampton) is now Chair of ALT and John Cook (London Metropolitan University) is President for 2005-2006. Also elected to the Central Executive Committee (the ALT trustees) were Dawn Leeder (University of Cambridge) and Tom Franklin (Franklin Consulting), who will both serve three years. We noted our thanks to Stephen Brown and George Roberts, who retired from the committee in September.

Following the AGM, the Central Executive Committee made the following appointments to committee chairs.

• Chair of Events Committee: John Phelps
• Chair of FE Advisory Committee: Cathy Ellis
• Chair of Membership Committee: Barbara Newland
• Chair of Publications Committee: Paul Bacsich.

ALT-C 2006: deadlines. Make sure that you register and book your accommodation early next year, because the conference follows on immediately after the Edinburgh Festival. The deadlines for submission to ALT-C 2006 are similar to this year, but they always come sooner than you think... Here they are:

• research papers close on 14 February 2006
• all other streams close on 28 February 2006
• registration for presenters closes 30 June 2006
• final registrations close on 11 August 2006.

You have been warned! Go to http://www.alt.ac.uk/altc2006

Spring Conference 2006. The University of Leiden in the Netherlands will host the 2006 ALT Spring Conference and Research Seminar on 6 and 7 April, in association with SURF and ILTA. This popular annual event always fills early, so keep the dates free. We are planning four discussion themes, building on the themes from the 2005 Spring Conference - more to follow soon.

rriachi@brookes.ac.uk