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Greetings ARLIS/NA colleagues,

Having just returned, tired but inspired, from our 50th anniversary conference in Chicago, I want to offer my heartfelt thanks to the Chicago CPAC for planning such a marvelous and rich conference.  Much appreciation also to the Midstates Chapter for making us feel welcome and taken care of in Chicago.  We owe tremendous gratitude to the entire McKenna Management team, who finally had the opportunity to manage an in-person conference for us.

I also want to acknowledge the development team, who achieved above and beyond expectations.  Over sixty generous sponsors stepped forward to support our conference with financial and in-kind donations.  Finally, after two years our loyal exhibitors could again join us with their books and library resources.  It was heart-warming to reconnect, and I thank them all for coming.

All those who attended were given a wonderful experience filled with sessions and workshops offering our colleagues' experiences, expertise, and passion, providing inspiration and fuel for the coming year.  A broad variety of tours gave us glimpses into the cultural richness of Chicago and the surrounding area.  The keynote and plenary sessions were moving, thought-provoking, and reminded us of our critical roles in the creation and dissemination of art information.

In any year, not all ARLIS/NA members are able to attend the annual conference, but this year the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the situation.  Aware of this, we adapted and will continue to adapt our conference practices to offer more online participation. The membership meeting was livestreamed and our committees, divisions, sections, SIGs held their meetings virtually.  The conference proceedings will be posted to ARLIS/NA Commons. In addition, the following sessions were recorded and will be available on the ARLIS/NA Kaltura channel.

• Demystifying Digital Art History: Past, Present, and Future
• Who Were We? Where Did We Go? Voices from the early years of the society
• Know their names: Case Studies in DEIA Collection Development Assessment, Expansion, and Access
• Thinking Globally Acting Locally: Increasing Access to a Wider Range of Diverse Materials

If you haven't done so already, please fill out the post-conference survey sent out earlier this week.  Your input will help the planning team prepare a meaningful conference for Mexico City.

I want to keep this message brief, so I'll be posting a longer look-ahead to the new year on the ARLIS/NA website in the coming days.

In closing -- again -- thank you to all (there were many of you) who played a role in providing such an impressive experience.