Dear Colleagues

Our mentors always told us to plan.  We planned our graduate studies, we planned our theses, we planned our job searches, and we planned our careers.  And now, I am asking you to plan again.

Plan on joining Congress President Saths Cooper and me at the forthcoming XXX International Congress of Psychology to be held in 2012 in Cape Town, South Africa.  This will be the very first time that the International Congress of Psychology will meet in Africa, and so it will be a very special event for all.

While four years away may seem like a long lead time, you should know that our colleagues in South Africa who are hosting this Congress have been hard at work planning the details of the Congress for at least two years already!  The Scientific Committee, for one, is hard at work structuring a rewarding intellectual experience for scholars and practitioners alike.  They are already seeking to receive your submissions to the program.  So now is the time to make plans to participate and to make a commitment to do so.  In this way, you can make a personal contribution to the success of the Congress while giving yourself an opportunity to learn in an invigorating environment.

A few years ago I visited South Africa as a participant in a national meeting of the Psychological Society of South Africa that incorporated the Africa Regional Congress of Psychology held under the auspices of the Union.  It was a great experience - personally and intellectually - and the International Congress of Psychology in 2012 promises to be even better as psychology has continued to thrive in South Africa, as it has worldwide.

So plan now, as I am, to be in Cape Town in 2012 for the XXX International Congress of Psychology.  You will be pleased that you did.

Yours,