Hello, World!

In software development, “Hello World” is the traditional first line of code written when programing in a new language. It validates that the code is working and the programmer understands the basics. “Hello World” also seems like the perfect way to introduce our revitalized blog.

Since joining the team eight months ago, I’ve been told frequently that we need to communicate more successfully and more often. You have been heard! A renewed commitment to this blog is just one of the communications initiatives we’ll be taking in the coming months, along with improved emails, newsletters, social media posts, at conferences and, when possible, in person at your institution or association. Believing that communications are best when they go both ways, we hope to hear from you, too. What’s working? What isn’t? What questions are we leaving unanswered?

It probably comes as no surprise that we’re asked a lot whether we’ll change our organization’s name. Yes! With input from many in our community, we are nearly finished developing a new name, tagline, logo, and plan to rebuild our well-loved but time-worn website.  We’ll be unveiling the whole package later this summer, so stay tuned!

In my brief eight months with International Species Information System I have visited 28 of our members on three continents, meeting with some incredible individuals doing remarkable things for animal welfare and species conservation. I’ll close this first blog post by saying thank you to everyone who welcomed me so warmly; and thank you, too, for what each of you do every day for individual animals, their species, and the planet in our care. Special thanks to:

• Minnesota Zoo
• Como Park Zoo and Conservatory
• San Diego Zoo and Safari Park
• Scripps Aquarium
• The Living Desert
• Zoological Society of London
• The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums
• Bristol Zoo Gardens (I will be back to see WildPlace!)
• Paignton Zoo
• Living Coasts Zoo and Aquarium, Torquay
• The IUCN RedList team in Cambridge
• The UK CITES team
• The great team of instructors at the AZA IRK course
• The Smithsonian’s National Zoo
• WCS, including the Bronx and Central Park Zoos
• Opel Zoo
• The EAZA Directors
• Zoo Leipzig
• Zoo Wroclaw
• Zoo Berlin
• Aquarium Berlin
• Tierpark Berlin
• Kölner Zoo
• Zoo Wuppertal
• Perth Zoo (thank you for hosting our board meeting!)
• Caversham Wildlife Park

That’s it for now.  I look forward to hearing from you, and hopefully meeting you in person very soon!

–Jim Guenter, CEO, Species360