The turn of the year provides an opportunity to review the events of the past and to think about what lies ahead, so I'll address these themes in this month's column. But first I'd like to wish you all a peaceful and successful New Year.

Membership
It's been a year of steady progress for the JCP. Our membership grew by more than 10% to a total of 1,427. More than 70% of the members are individuals and almost all of the remainder are corporations with a small but growing number of non-profit organizations (about 2%). More than half of the new members came from three countries: the U.S., Germany, and Brazil. Just over 50% of the membership is based in North America, followed by Europe and The Russian Federation at 31%, Asia and The Middle East at 11%, South America at 4%, and Oceania at 2%. The trend is definitely toward more individual and non-profit membership although corporate representation remains strong.