in conjunction with the 2001 EMTS in Victoria, BC, Canada.

All EMTS participants were invited to the meeting and around 50 persons were present.

Prof S.E. El-Khami, chair of the Local Organising Committee, gave an exposé over the city of Alexandria and several options concerning the symposium venue within the city. A first announcement about the 2004 EMTS had been distributed. He noted in particular that the new Alexandria Library now under construction will be opened within a couple of months time and it will have conference facilities.

Prof. Y.M.M. Antar, Canada, had suggested that Comm. B scientists of Egyptian origin who now work abroad could form an international advisory group, with the goal of providing the LOC in Alexandria with support concerning different aspects of the symposium preparations. The formation of such a group was welcomed by Prof. El-Khami and he hoped it would be formed in the near future.

A short discussion about various practical questions followed. Prof. El-Khami concluded by welcoming everyone to the 2004 EMTS and the meeting expressed its appreciation of the work of the LOC and wished them success with their task.

The lead time required for booking attractive conference venues have continued to increase. In response to this, a request for proposals concerning the venue for the 2007 EMTS will be sent out already during the fall of 2001. The recently established Comm. B procedure for handling the choice of the venue will be followed. Thus, a small group

( 2-3 persons ) will be formed, which will go through the proposals and then select two of them which will then voted upon by the Comm. B representatives. The winner will be determined by simple majority of the votes received. The request for venue proposals will contain a list of aspects that the proposers should address. The vote is expected to take place late 2001 or early 2002.

At the next URSI GA in Maastricht, Comm. B will make the final vote concerning new vice-chair for 2002-2005. The URSI requirements are that all Comm. B representatives shall have an opportunity to nominate candidates and that Comm. B shall present ( at least ) two names and the order of preference between them. Each Comm. B representative has one vote.

Comm. B uses a two-step procedure. In the first round all the nominated candidates participate and each Comm. B representative votes for two candidates, giving their first choice 2 points and their second choice 1 point. The two ( or possibly three ) candidates who get the largest number of points go on two the second round of voting. In the second round the representatives similarly give two points to their first choice and 1 point to their second choice

Comm. B wants to encourage that a sufficient nr of candidates are being nominated and therefore the meeting recommended that a Comm. B Search Committee ( CBSC ) consisting of three Comm. B past chairs, should be formed with the task of making sure that enough candidates are being nominated. Past chairs David Olver and Chalmers Butler, who were present at the meeting, agreed to be members of such a committee. Furthermore, it was agreed that past chair Fred Gardiol should be invited to be a member of this group

The request for nominations will be sent out during the fall of 2001 and the second round of voting should take place early in 2002. Formally the votes are counted at the GA and the Comm. B representatives then have a possibility to change their votes concerning the second round at the GA if they wish to do so.

The chair opened the discussion concerning this point by noting that the EMTS take place in an ever-changing 'environment' represented by competing conferences, workshops, summer schools etc., and therefore a great effort is required in order for the EMTS to remain competitive. it was also noted that an important aspect of this environment is the URSI General Assemblies which have changed considerably over the past decades and which recently have been reduced in length. The change of the GAs have been such that the EMTS and the Comm. B scientific programme at the GAs have clearly become more similar. It was noted that although all the prerequisites seemed to be in place, the Victoria EMTS attracted markedly fewer contributions than the previous EMTS in Thessaloniki, and this added to the concern.

The discussion that followed dealt both with what could be done concerning the format of future EMTS and with what other additional conference activities Comm. B might wish to get involved in. A repeated theme in the discussion was the need for more preparatory work for the EMTS, concerning e.g. more special sessions, parallel workshops, collaboration with other conferences, all this with the goal of getting an early commitment to participate in the EMTS from prominent Comm. B scientists. More preparatory work typically means that more lead time is needed, so that the preparations may need to start earlier than hitherto.

There was general agreement that it was important for Comm. B to make a serious effort concerning these problems and the chair suggested that a working group should be formed consisting of prominent Comm. B scientists, with the task of considering this whole body of questions and to come forward with proposals for changes and new developments.

This was supported by the meeting and the need for action without delay was stressed.

( It may be mentioned here that the discussion was continued as part of the closing ceremony of the symposium, on Thursday, May 17. )