And engineering and management, too. The economy feels different. Many things taken for granted just a year or two ago have been turned on their heads in ways that impact industry and academe (and engineering and management, too). This transition has more than a little impact on professional societies.

Engineering management continues to face challenge and change; this affects our society, its publications, and the Society's role with its members. Competitive and economic forces are brutal, and those forces demand strong reaction. However, such responses often distract individuals and organizations from efforts to maintain a proactive stance. This happens in industry, with people, and with professional organizations. The ripple effect of lean-and-mean is that less time and resources exist within industry for supporting professional activities, particularly if activities do not translate to bottom-line productivity. Engineers who are managers require current information and increasingly broad perspective, yet they may well have less and less time for professional development.

What is the Engineering Management Society (EMS) reacting to? Although membership has remained stable, significant budgetary pressures have arisen in unexpected and unpredictable ways. Production costs are rising, and the IEEE's unexpected budget deficit is severely drawing down the Society's reserves. The budget deficit at the Institutional level primarily exists because of reduced investment returns. At every level, we are required to respond to constraints that we would have rather avoided, just like many of our members and many of their employers.

Difficulties keep us honest. It is exactly under such difficult circumstances that EMS membership needs the strength, vision, and commitment to provide uniquely valuable information and perspective for its members. Professional societies, particularly in engineering, must rise to the challenge of their member's needs; margin simply does not exist to support organizations and publications that do not maintain the needed relevance to their discipline. This is an opportunity for EMS to galvanize its resolve for serving membership and remain a preferred source of information and perspective for the professional development of engineering managers.

There is progress. The Review is providing original articles. And executive summaries of reprint articles from back issues are now being made available on the Society's Web site (http://www.ewh.ieee.org/soc/ems/). We believe that we provide good reading, but we know we can do better. Let us know what you think of the original articles, what new topics you would like to see addressed, and what you think of the Web site and how you feel it can be improved. And share your opinions about how you think the EMS can expand its membership. Your input is greatly appreciated.