End of Year Message 
from the ELGI Chairman
Terry Dicken

I think we can all agree 2020 has been a horrible and terrible year for everyone and is probably set to continue like it for the foreseeable future, therefore, I felt we should reflect on what has (and has not happened) this year and what we are planning to achieve going forward.

The beginning of the year started well when I had returned from a well-run NLGI-India Chapter AGM and was gearing up for our 32nd ELGI AGM in Hamburg, when Covid-19 hit Europe in a big way. Frantic telephone conversations between board members, sponsors, the AGM hotel and event organisers took place during February and March cumulating in the disappointing, but inevitable decision to postpone our 2020 AGM and move it to 2021. Our feeling at that time was that a postponement until the Autumn of this year would not work as we felt sure the virus would not have gone away and how right we were, the circuit for conferences and meetings has been severely affected.

The virus as you all know is well and truly still with us and although there is great optimism that vaccines are close to being approved and could return life and travel to some sort of normality, the reality still seems some way off, which brings me to another disappointing decision that the board of ELGI has had to make, and that is to further postpone our 32nd AGM, for a further year, till April 2022. The decision was not taken lightly but following several discussions with the hotel, both parties came to the conclusion that we could not plan and run a successful conference with so many restrictions still in place and a relatively short time remaining.

This past year has been challenging but, despite this, our working groups have continued to carry out their work and while they could not meet face to face, successful virtual meetings have been held for all the working groups and will continue again during next year.

In addition to the virtual working group meetings, ELG is planning virtual a Tribology Exchange workshop with STLE during April 28th-29th 2021. We are also working on producing a virtual Grease Symposium also during the spring of next year 26^th – 27^th April 2021. Full programme details on the Grease Symposium and the Tribology Exchange Workshop will be announced in the New Year.

Hopefully by the summer of next year face to face meetings could take place again in a limited way and the board is looking at hosting a 1-2-day tribology event, probably in Amsterdam during June 2021, this is likely to take the format of paper presentations with questions and answers, with networking and advertising/exhibition opportunities. Due to possible restrictions on group sizes allowed for such events a cap on numbers may have to be applied and if so, then it is hoped that the presentations could be live streamed to allow those unable to attend in person to join in the event.

Moving ahead, to the autumn of next year we are actively planning our autumn events programme, which may include our excellent Grease Education course, so much depends on how this pandemic develops but, fingers crossed we can hold a face-to-face event and return to our normal format and make the world smaller again.

Most of us have spent the majority of the year in front of computer screens moving from one online meeting to another, as a way of easing some of that screen time, in addition to this electronic copy of Eurogrease we have decided to mail a hard copy to our members which should be with you early in the new year.

So, to try and end on a brighter note, on behalf of the ELGI, I would like to wish you all a safe and Happy Christmas, a Prosperous New Year and hope to meet with you next year and share a well-deserved drink!!

Take care and stay safe.

Terry Dicken

Chairman ELGI