Welcome to the 23,456th day of January!
I know it’s an old joke, but wow does it feel appropriate right now! I hope your January has been a good one and that you’re keeping well.
Earlier this month (even though it feels like it must have been last year) the EMENA board met in London for our annual strategy day. It’s usually the only time in the year when the entire board meets in person, so it was a joy to spend the day reflecting on the first six months of the board year and planning for the next six – and beyond.
The highlight of the day was getting to bring the Community Leads and our UK & Ireland chapter into the room, albeit virtually. The energy and passion shown by our communities is inspiring. If you’re located near one of our communities – Brussels, Berlin, Warsaw (which already has another event planned with guest speaker Howard Krais), and our newly-launched Nordics community – I highly recommend getting involved. And, of course, our longstanding UK & Ireland chapter looks set to go from strength to strength in 2026, so keep an eye on their website if you’re close by.
Looking ahead, it’s not long until our third London Unfiltered event. My co-host Katie Macaulay and I were reflecting on our extraordinary experience of running the first two events and Katie summed it up nicely: “Unfiltered is about creating a space to have the conversations that normally happen in the sidelines – or don’t happen at all.”
In a world facing increasing political instability, economic anxiety, and social and global stress, these conversations are even more important than ever.
As the days get longer and the evenings lighter, wishing you a bright month ahead.
Simon Cavendish, SCMP®
Chair, IABC EMENA