I am serving as President of the Benthic Ecology Meeting Society this year, accepted at last years  BEM in Quebec with encouragement from Ladd Johnson and one too many merlots! The president gets to run the meeting, and this year we are happy to host at the Westin Harborview in lively downtown Portland, Maine. I’m lucky to have Steve Allen as the meeting organizer; and Sarah Kingston (Bowdoin), Bob Steneck (U. Maine), and Graham Sherwood (GMRI) on the scientific committee. We have some great activities planned, including a plenary by Boris Worm of Dalhousie and a fun Friday tour of the Coastal Studies Center with libations donated by Oxbow Brewery. Check out the BEM website: http://www.bemsociety.org, and see the story Bowdoin ran last week: http://community.bowdoin.edu/news/2016/01/bowdoin-to-host-big-marine-science-conference-in-portland/