On behalf of the ISCA board, I am sending all best wishes for a Happy and Prosperous New Year 2019! (even if this is the end of Jan. J!)

As we enter 2019, it is maybe useful to look back and remind ourselves of memories of past events like the successful INTERSPEECH 2018 in Hyderabad, India (the first time a major speech conference has taken place in India), and to look forward to our next INTERSPEECH 2019 taking place in Graz, Austria (https://www.interspeech2019.org/; that's Austria, Austria, Austria!) . The full paper submission deadline is approaching on March 29, 2019 and we all very much hope to see you in Graz this September 15-19, 2019!

I will also add there are a number of Special Sessions & Challenges which have been recently posted for you to consider in your submissions, so please check these out (the Interspeech-2019 Organizing Committee has received many applications and these are the final selections, which will help shape the technical program for IS-19):

https://www.interspeech2019.org/program/special_sessions_and_challenges/

January is also the time for nominations for ISCA Fellow! Please consider nominating one of your colleagues who has made significant contributions to the field of speech communications – including science and technology domains! Nomination forms and information is available at this location:

https://www.isca-speech.org/iscaweb/index.php/honors/fellows

We are also encouraging you to consider hosting/inviting one of our ISCA Distinguished Lecturers: Prof. Takayuki Arai(Professor, Sophia University, Japan)  and Dr. Daniel Hirst, (Directeur de Recherche Emeritus, CNRS & Aix-Marseille University, France) to visit your university to give a talk! We especially encourage schools or regions which may not have as many visitors/conferences in the field of speech communications to send a request. More information is located at:

https://www.isca-speech.org/iscaweb/index.php/distinguished-lecturers

(if you wish to be considered for an ISCA Distinguished Lecturer, the deadline for nominations is Jan. 31^st (this week!)

Also, the ISCA Board has been working to strengthen our commitment to diversity, which includes gender, ethnicity, regional, and science/technology. With respect to gender, ISCA is announcing a new initiative for WomenNspeech (https://isca-speech.org/iscaweb/index.php/diversity?id=264) which we are hopeful will help those organizing workshops/conferences, those seeking to expand educational support based on Distinguished Lecturers, and finally those involved in either faculty search for recent graduates or awards recognition. Please check out the newly released ISCA website for more information!! (and contact info!).  

Finally, we welcome all comments and feedback – as the ISCA Board is here to serve and enhance the speech communication society through our membership. The ISCA Board encourages you to get involved and actively engage in the various discussions on how to further improve our association.

My best wishes for a productive, safe, and prosperous year 2019!

John Hansen, ISCA President