Science matters.

That was the theme for the 2011 annual meeting, where more than 400 people attended short courses, participated in discussions, and heard a variety of speakers.

“You don’t need to be a scientist to make science happen,” said Christine Laine, the council’s outgoing president, as she opened the business meeting in Baltimore, MD, held 1–3 May.

“We all work to make science matter.” “We work to clearly communicate the findings so that people learn about them,” she said, adding managing editors, authors’ editors, and others on the publishing side of journals have “common ground” with the scientists whom they serve.

“The work that we do in assuring that the science is valid is really important,” Laine said.

Laine was to be succeeded at the meeting by Diane Sullenberger, executive editor of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. However, because of a prior commitment, Sullenberger could not attend the opening ceremonies of the annual meeting.

Also part of the opening session, CSE’s treasurer, Kevin Pirkey, gave a report that described 2010 as “a challenging year.”

“It showed a very flat year from last year, and in this climate,” he continued, “that’s a very good thing.”

The council spent $418,309 in 2010 on administrative and direct expenses. That compares with $449,711 in 2009 and $446,144 in 2008.

Total revenue was $370,294 in 2010, whereas it was $384,213 in 2009 and $283,753 in 2008.

Because of CSE’s previous assets ($765,085 at the start of 2010), the bottom line shows the council had total assets of $816,436 in 2010, compared with $817,260 in 2009 and $762,113 in 2008.

In other business-meeting reports, election results were announced by Diane Lang, immediate past president.

Pam Erickson was elected secretary. Erickson serves as medical communications lead at Eli Lilly & Company in Indianapolis, IN.

Heather Goodell is the new vice president. Goodell is with the American Heart Association in Dallas, TX.

Tim Cross of Allen Press was elected as a director for a term of 3 years. In action after the annual meeting, Kristi Overgaard was appointed to fill Goodell’s spot on the Board of Directors. Overgaard is managing editor at the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine in Rosemont, IL.

The third director’s post is filled by Anna Trudgett, whose term expires in 2013. Trudgett is managing editor of Blood and assistant director–editorial at the American Society of Hematology in Washington, DC.

Laine described the membership as “vibrant,” saying members represented 45 countries and “hundreds of journals”. Member activities include

• Introduction of a new Webinar series.
• Preparation for the upcoming publication of the eighth edition of CSE’s Scientific Style and Format.
• Continued work after the publication of the updates to its white paper on publication integrity.
• Cooperation with a variety of groups, including the Committee on Publication Ethics.
• Offering more than 30 workshops, sessions, and discussions at CSE’s annual meeting.

TERESA M MELCHER is editor of CSE’s Science Editor.