Dear Members,

A short and somewhat belated note to wish you all a happy and prosperous new year.  The AAPA is in full swing for 2019, having already brought you Delphine Horvilleur, one of France’s three female rabbis whose new book on anti-Semitism has alas proved very timely,  and Marine Le Pen, the far-right leader whose party is neck and neck in the polls with Emmanuel Macron’s for the upcoming European elections.

The committee members are all working on various speakers we want to bring to you from the worlds of politics, business and the arts. One of the top targets is Emmanuel Macron, on whom I am working by trying to wear down his press team until they finally give in just to get rid of me, but we have a whole range of other makers and shakers on our hit list and will let you know as soon as we have them in the bag.

We would also ask you the members to suggest newsmakers you would like to meet. Send your suggestions to angloamericanparis@gmail.com and we will see what we can do. If, for example, you are in frequent contact with the press team of a minister or a champion of industry, then maybe ask if their boss would be interested in meeting us.

More generally, the association would this year like to get more input/feedback from members. Tell us what you think we should be doing or not doing, make suggestions for social events or outings, tell us about events that AAPA members might be interested in etc. You can do this via our Facebook group page (if you’re not already a member of that, just go on to the FB group page and ask to join and you will be signed up) or by sending an email to angloamericanparis@gmail.com.

Among the social events we can look forward to this year are the Second Annual AAPA Bike Ride in May, and the Gala in June. This year it looks like the Gala will be held in the Indian Embassy, where the food is said to be top notch. And of course there are the Happy Hour drinks on the last Friday of each month, which have proved highly popular (and are not restricted to members, so bring along friends and colleagues if you so wish).

We look forward to seeing you at the many events that are in the pipeline for the coming months.

Rory Mulholland

President of the Anglo-American Press Association